Son of Primus
by Rapidfyrez
Summary: Annabeth and Percy are called by Grover to help find and escort a powerful Half-Blood to camp. Theres just three problems. Problem 1 is this half-blood is more powerful than Percy. Problem two, is that the half blood is located in the middle of nowhere. Problem three. He's already apart of a war of his own. A/N:Was originally listed as a crossover, but its really more AU.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Giant Metal Robots, and Demigods

**Percy's POV**

If someone had told me this morning that I would wind up meeting a race of highly advanced sentient robots, I would've thought they were crazy. Of course now Annabeth and I were staring up at five such robots right now.

Okay, okay maybe I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Let's start with how this whole situation got started.

It all started when I received a message from Grover, about five months after the battle of the labyrinth, as it was so aptly named by camp. After the battle, Grover had tried to spread the news about the wild-god Pan's death. The result had been his near banishment by other satyrs. Only thanks to my camp teacher Chiron and Dionysius was he saved from banishment.

But afterwards, he had begun traveling the states, trying to convince any who would listen of what happened. It had kept him busy for a long while, so I was actually surprised when he asked for me and Annabeth.

It was pretty cryptic, all it said was that he'd found a powerful demigod and needed our help to get him back to camp. The whole thing sounded eerily similar to what had happened a year or so back when Grover had found another two powerful demigods, the di Angelo's, children of Hades. I was pretty hopeful that this time wouldn't end with Annabeth being kidnapped by another monster.

Anyway, the message had told us to come to Jasper, Nevada some town in the middle of nowhere. When we got there we'd meet him at the high school where we'd try and find this half-blood.

We had decided to take the bus there (me and planes don't mix), and got off at the edge of town.

"So," I asked as we walked along the sidewalk "what do we know about this new "powerful" demigod?"

Annabeth sighed and pulled her laptop she received from Daedelus (long story) and opened a file "Jack Darby, age 16, lives with his mom, no medical problems."

"You mean besides the usual ADHD and Dyslexia right?" I asked after all, almost all demigods suffered from one form of it. It was part of our heritage, the ADHD was actually our minds being hardwired for combat, and the dyslexia was to help us understand ancient Greek writing

"Nope" she responded "no medical issues at all, in fact his grades up until recently were exceptionally high, straight A's up until a few months ago, still high but mostly B's and C's"

I looked at her in shock "How did you get a hold of his grades? Aren't those private records, or something like that?"

She shrugged "Hasn't stopped me before."

I nodded before something clicked in my head "Wait what do you mean hasn't stopped you before?"

"Oh look, were here." She said changing the subject.

I rolled my eyes before looking over the high school. For a school in the tail end of nowhere, it was pretty nice. It was a pretty large building, nice front area with plenty of grass and trees and a large parking lot, which oddly had three pretty out of place vehicles parked in them.

One was a pretty awesome looking muscle car that had a yellow and black paintjob with its engine peaking out of the top of the hood. Parked next to it was a large green SUV that looked like it belonged in a military convoy. Then next to it was a small custom sport bike, that was blue and pink of all colors.

I let out a whistle "Nice cars, wonder if the teachers own those cars."

"Percy focus, we need to find Grover and the demigod." Annabeth said, with a hint of annoyance.

"I think I found him over there." I said pointing towards a scruffy looking teen with a baseball cap, who seemed to be in the middle of a conversation with a large red head.

We started walking over, when the red head suddenly shoved Grover, causing the poor satyr to stumble back a few feet.

I looked at Annabeth "Percy" She said "I know that look."

"We can't let some jerk pick on Grover like that." I said gesturing towards the scene.

She looked over at the scene "I think someone beat you to the punch seaweed brain."

I looked over to see that another teen with raven black hair, and grey blue eyes had confronted the bully, diverting his attention away from Grover. Whatever he said seemed to work, and the bully wandered off, laughing at him.

After that little spectacle we ran up to Grover, as he struggled to get up "Hey Grover, you alright?" I asked as we got closer

"Percy" He bleated as he hopped up and gave me a bear hug (or is it goat hug?) "its good to see you again."

"What about me?" Annabeth asked as she approached us.

Grover smiled "It's good to see you again to Annabeth."

I turned and looked at the satyr "Who was that jerk who was bothering you?"

"Hm?" Grover said tilting his head to the side "Oh that was just Vince, local bully he's not the worst I've dealt with."

"If he's not the worst you dealt with, I feel bad for you." A voice said behind us, and we both turned towards it. It was the kid who I guess had told Vince off.

I held out my hand in a greeting "Percy Jackson, thanks for helping Grover out back there."

He shook my hand "Jack Darby, it was no problem, Vince is just a jerk who likes to pick on people smaller than him."

A small beep interrupted our little meeting and he pulled out a cell phone reading whatever text he had just gotten "Oh, time to go, it was nice meeting you." He said as he got on that blue and pink (Seriously why pink?) motorcycle and drove off.

Annabeth hit me in the shoulder. Hard. "Ow," I said rubbing my shoulder "What was that for?" I asked.

"That was the guy were looking for seaweed brain, and you just let him wander off."

"Well how was I supposed to know? I only heard his name once and never saw a picture." I sighed before looking to Grover "Grover, do you know where he's headed?"

Grover straightened "Uh, yeah he has a job at a fast food place, not too far from here come on." He gestured for us to follow.

* * *

We'd followed Grover to the edge of town to some dingy fast food joint called K.O Burger.

"This is where he works?" I asked in surprise, though I wasn't one to talk, after all I don't even have a job.

"It's the best he could find, or so he says and he needs the money to help support his mom." Grover answered

"His mom sick or something?" I asked.

Annabeth rolled her eyes "Not everyone wants to live in a tiny apartment seaweed brain. A normal house wouldn't be easy for a single mother to afford."

I raised my hands in surrender "Alright, alright I get it. Anyway where is the guy, I don't see his motorcycle parked out front anywhere."

Before anyone could say anything, a familiar blue motorcycle sped by, with three purple cars chasing after it. Jack sat on it, and looked like he was in the ride for his life.

I looked at Annabeth "Monsters?" I asked

"Monsters." She answered. With that we began chasing after the four, following them out. We found out rather quickly, that keeping pace with a fast moving motorcycle, was pretty impossible. But to our shock something did, happen that let us catch up.

The lead car's hood seemed to open up, and some pretty nasty looking weapons popped up, firing at the motorcycle. The resulting explosion, knocked Jack off his bike onto the asphalt, while the bike flew through the air off the road.

The three cars circled Jack as he struggled to stand. Seeing he was in trouble, I reached into my pants pocket, and pulled out a ballpoint pen, ripping the cap off, and allowing it to grow into my three foot celestial bronze sword, Riptide.

The three of us were sprinting towards Jack, when one of the strangest things happened. His motorcycle, came screaming back onto the highway, _with no driver._ The cycle was heading straight towards the three cars before they did something I never would have seen coming.

They had transformed, into three large purple robots, with glowing red visors. Think Cylons from Battlestar Galactica on steroids. The three robots raised their arms, which changed into those menacing weapons again, when Jacks bike did something else I wouldn't have guessed.

It transformed into a robot too, though much smaller, and looking like a girl. Guess that explains the pink. The femme bot engaged the three larger robots in battle, while me and the others caught up to Jack who had struggled back to his feet, dazed but unharmed.

He looked at us in shock "You! What are you guys doing here? And what's with the sword?"

"Where here to take you someplace safe come on." Annabeth stated bluntly. Annabeth, master of tact.

"I'm not going anywhere, not while my partners in trouble." Jack said defiantly. Grover and I exchanged looks while the two began to argue.

"It's just a damn machine! For gods sake you can build a new one!" Annabeth yelled at him.

Wrong choice of words Annabeth, Jack looked pissed by what you said "Don't you ever call her that." He growled in a way that caused my hair to stand on end, Annabeth to take a step back.

Before she could retort though, the last of the purple robots fell to the ground, its head rolling along the highway. The blue bot approached us and Jack ran towards her, ignoring Annabeth.

"Arcee," he called. Arcee? He named it? "are you alright?"

The bot lowered onto one knee and looked at Jack. I had to admit, for an automaton, her craftsmanship was pretty impressive, no sign of celestial bronze or gears anywhere.

The bot spoke in a very feminine voice, and it was at that point I decided that it was in fact a she "I'm fine Jack, though we may have a problem with the three humans over there."

The femme lifted a hand to her head and started talking over some sort of built in radio "Arcee to base, I need a ground bridge. Also, let Ratchet know there are three more humans joining us."

The three of us looked at the bot in confusion, when a sound drew our attention to our right. A large green vortex seemed to have opened in midair, and Jack and his partner Arcee began to approach it.

Jack turned back to us "Come on its perfectly safe, and besides the bots are going to need to meet you now that you've seen them." We exchanged looks. There were more of these transforming automatons?

Somewhat hesitantly, we shrugged and followed him through the portal, emerging into a large empty silo. The mysterious portal closed behind us, and we followed the Jack into the main area of the silo.

Of course that wasn't the cool part. No the cool part was one four other machines, all larger than Arcee looked down at the three of us. I recognized two of them as being the same muscle car and SUV from the high school earlier.

Before we could say anything a large red, blue and silver bot approached us, kneeling towards us until his faceplate was a few feet away from us. I'd say I've seen bigger things, and I have, but not very many, and none of them were as intelligent and wise looking as this bot was.

The look in his eyes (or is it optics?) spoke of years of experience and kindness, as well as the sort of eyes that have seen far too much conflict.

The large bot spoke to us in a deep booming voice, deeper than anything I had ever heard before "My name is Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. Now I ask you, why were you attempting to steal Jackson away while Arcee was engaged with the Decepticons?"

Me and Annabeth exchanged looks. This was going to be a long story.

**A/N: So here it is, the first chapter of yet another story of mine, hope I managed to keep them all in character, and if I didn't I apologize. I won't be writing from Percy's view again anytime soon, it'll mostly follow Jacks now. Anyway let me know what you guys think. Review or PM me if you have any plot related ideas. Thanks, bye!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Autobots, and Decepticons

**Jack's POV**

To say that today was a little odd would have been an understatement. And coming from me, the guy who hangs out with 30 foot tall alien robots that's saying something. It had all started as a normal day, the usual school and such.

Things got weird though, when Vince started picking on that new transfer student Grover. Of course I couldn't just let him pick on the poor guy, so I told the bully off. Of course he just laughed, but at least he left him alone. After that though, I met his two friends, Percy and Annabeth.

Percy seemed like a nice enough guy despite the odd name, though Annabeth seems a bit stubborn. Before I got to talk with them though, I had to head off to my job at the K.O Burger.

It was on my way there though, that I had a case of Déjà vu. Three Vehicon drones had pulled behind me and Arcee as we drove, and begun chasing us. Eventually they had separated us, when out of the blue those three showed up again, with Percy carrying a sword of all things. Where did he even hold it, actually a better question was where was it now?

He had no visible sheathe on him and the sword had just disappeared. I shrugged to myself. When Optimus was done explaining who the bots were to the three I'd make sure to ask some questions of my own.

I shifted my focus back to the scene unfolding before me. Compared to when we first met the bots, these three were, taking it… well to say the least. They didn't look completely awestruck anyway.

Annabeth crossed her arms and tried to _stare down_ Optimus. I'll give the girl this much, for as stubborn as she is, she's a tough one. "Not until you explain who or what you are!" she demanded earning a look from Percy and Grover that said _please don't tick off the three story robot._

Optimus simply nodded "A fair enough request." He said as he activated his holographic display. Suddenly images of a gleaming metal planet began hovering in front of the three.

"This is our home planet, Cybertron" He explained "For eons we Cybertronians lived together in peace on the planet. Until the war."

Percy interrupted him with a similar question I had once asked "Wait, how do robots start up a war? Aren't you guys suppose to be very logical and stuff?"

Optimus shook his head slightly "We are sentient organism just like humans. We are fully capable of feeling emotions including greed, ambition, and hate. This war was fought over many reasons, though in the end it fell to a war over the remaining supply of Energon, our life energy. During the war I fought with one who I once considered a brother. But the waging of war will corrupt even the greatest of souls, and so it was that my comrade Megatron fell to his own twisted desires, and lead his own faction, the Decepticons."

Annabeth spoke up "Was that what attacked Jack on the road earlier?"

Optimus nodded "Indeed, though those were simple drones, incapable of advanced thoughts like Cybertronians. The war took a heavy toll on our planet, and eventually, our creator, and the core of our planet Primus, fell into a deep slumber, halting the creation of Energon. Since that day, Autobot and Decepticon alike have wandered the stars searching for a place to settle and stay."

"Why Earth?" Percy asked

"We did not wish to intrude upon your planet during such early stages of your species of development. But sadly, it was not us who arrived first, but Megatron in his flagship the Nemesis. Since then we have worked with the governments of Earth to fight off Decepticon incursions onto military bases."

The three looked stunned to say the least. I guess that would make sense, given how they just found out that there was a secret alien war that was going on right under their noses.

I decided it was time for me to ask a few questions "Now if you don't mind me asking, why were you guys trying to take me away from Arcee, why did you think I built her, and what happened to your sword you were carrying?"

Percy paled slightly when I mentioned the sword, but quickly tried to cover it up " I, uh don't know what you're talking about Jack. I didn't have a sword on me when we ran into you."

Arcee decided to step in and add her two scents "Oh yes you did, it was about three feet long, kind of a bronzish color?"

Percy exchanged a look with Annabeth and Grover. Grover just shrugged, and Annabeth slowly nodded yes. Sighing he reached into his pocket and pulled out a ballpoint pen. Before anyone could say anything he pulled the cap off, and it sprang into a three foot long bronze sword.

Everyone stared at him in disbelief.

Of course Miko was the first to say something "Dude you have a magic sword, that's awesome."

She was thankfully interrupted from listing off questions by a snort from Ratchet "Magic, as if. There is a clearly rational and logical explanation for this."

Percy looked up at the medic "No she's right it's a magic sword. It can turn into the pen form, and if I lose it, it reappears in my pocket, no matter where or how I lost it."

Ratchet gave him a disbelieving look "And how pray tell, did you get a hold of a magic sword?"

Percy shifted slightly an uncomfortable look on his face. I had to admit I think we were all curious to know how the mysterious boy had gotten a hold of a magic sword.

Before he could say anything he was interrupted by Annabeth "I'll tell you guys, but you have to swear, not tell anyone, even the government okay?" We all nodded in agreement.

She took in a deep breath before looking at the Autobots "How much do you guys know about ancient human religion and history? Particularly Greek?"

Optimus was the first to answer "While my troops have basic knowledge of human history, only I actively study human history. For such a young race I find your history to be fascinating."

Annabeth nodded before continuing "Well you know about the myths concerning the ancient Greek gods? You know Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades? Well there all true."

We all just stared at her in disbelief. That was until Bulkhead started laughing "Right he said, and next thing you'll tell me is that these gods have children with humans and that there is another secret war going on between the kids and the monsters."

Annabeth, Percy and Grover just shifted uncomfortably. "He's right isn't he?" I said as my mind made the connection.

Annabeth nodded "He is, were called demigods, I'm a child of Athena, and Percy is a child of Poseidon."

"What about Grover?" I asked

"He's a satyr" Percy answered

"A what now?" Miko asked

"Satyr, half human half goat." Percy answered again "Show them Grover."

Grover looked hesitant before he kicked off one of his shoes. Sure enough his foot was a goat hoof, fur and all. We all just stared in shock at the sight before us.

Arcee decided to cut to the question that everyone was thinking next "Okay now tell me, why were you trying to take Jack?"

"For his own safety." Percy said

"Safety?" Arcee asked "What protection could you provide for him that we couldn't?"

I had to admit, Arcee had a point. How could three kids, even with god parents keep me safer than a group of veteran alien robot warriors. Wow that was the oddest thing I've ever said.

Anyway Annabeth answered that question "By taking him to Camp Half-blood, a place where demigods like us can stay without fear of being attacked by monsters. You see the more powerful a demigods heritage, the more monsters he attracts. And according to Grover, Jack has quiet the powerful aura surrounding him."

The silo was silent with shock as I mulled over what she just said. Me, a demigod? No that couldn't be possible. I knew my mom wasn't a god, that was obvious. And my dad left when I was about six, but he was no god.

I decided to voice my thoughts "How can you say that? I knew both my parents and neither one appeared very godly."

Annabeth looked at me "Jack, I know you only live with your mother, most gods tend to leave their human partners after the child is born. Not because they don't love them, but because they have other duties to attend to and separate themselves to keep from getting attached. That's probably why your dad left when you were young."

"But he didn't leave when I was young." I countered, determined to prove it more to myself than her "He did leave but not till I was six, see I even have a picture of him" I said as I opened my wallet to reveal a family picture of me, my mom, and my dad.

It was one of the only pictures of him I had left, from when he had been working on fixing an old beater. Dad had always been fixing things and I had always tried to help. The man in the picture had black hair, a strong jaw line, tanned skin and a yellowish hazel colored eyes that always seemed to come alive with emotions. Or at least that's how I remembered them.

Annabeth looked at the picture closely "I don't know, I'd say that could be Hephaestus, but this looks nothing like his human form. Look that's beside's the point. The point is that Jack should come with us to camp. If he doesn't he's going to have monsters breathing down his throat."

Arcee glared at Annabeth, I could tell the two wouldn't get along "And what makes you think we couldn't do that just fine here?" she growled

"Simple," Annabeth retorted "Mortal weapons can't hurt monsters, only celestial bronze can kill a monster, it's what Percy's sword is made of."

"While your reasoning is sound Annabeth" Optimus said "Arcee is sworn as Jack's Guardian, and would refuse to abandon him."

"I personally would be more interested in analyzing that sword of Percy's, to see what makes the metal so special." Ratchet said

Percy looked at him for a minute and shrugged "Sure knock yourself out." He said as he placed the sword in Ratchets outstretched hand.

Nodding his thanks Ratchet placed the sword on a table and began using his tools to examine it. The rest of the crowd began to filter as Miko, Raf and I headed to the human living area deciding to try something to help diffuse this whole situation. It was that time again where we would search for pictures of the bots on the internet and replace them with something funnier.

Percy and Grover on the other hand had decided to sit on the couch and turn on the TV but Primus knows what a demigod and satyr watch on TV. I was interrupted by my thoughts when Annabeth approached our table. I shot her a glare, still not happy with her assumptions or the fact that she accused me of being a demigod myself.

She ignored my glare and looked at Raf's open laptop "What are you doing?" she asked

"Looking up pictures on conspiracy websites for pic's of the Autobots or Decepticons." He said

"Mind if I help?" She asked

"You know how to hack" I asked not trying to hide the suspicion in my voice.

"Of course I do, how else do you think I knew so much about you?"

"Wait, you hacked my personal files?" I asked in surprise.

"I never said it, you did." She retorted, a small smile on her face.

I groaned as I turned my attention back to Raf's screen "Found another one" I said pointing to a picture of Bumblebee. "Camera sure loves Bee."

"Is that Bumblebee?" Ratchet asked looking up from the sword on his examination table.

"Calm down Ratchet" Raf said as he typed a few commands into the computer, and suddenly the picture was gone and replaced with a cat in a space suit that said _"Mars Cat says, take me to your feeder"_

At this Ratchet laughed. We all turned to the medic in shock who had an embarrassed look on his face.

Miko asked the question on everyone's mind "Did doc bot just laugh?" It was true, Ratchet rarely if ever laughed at anything. If a lol cat could make him laugh… I wondered.

" Hey Optimus" I called "want to see something funny?"

"No" He stated while monitoring a terminal for Decepticon activity.

I looked down slightly disappointed before Percy piped up with a question "Is he always like that?" He said.

"Don't take it personal" Arcee said as she and Bulkhead approached us "Primes are built that way."

"Yeah" Bulkhead said "never seen Prime laugh, cry, or lose his cool"

"While Optimus certainly keeps his emotions in check, I've known him far longer than any of you have, and he was different before he was made a Prime." Ratchet said

"Optimus wasn't always a Prime?" Raf asked the rest of us looking at Ratchet in curiosity.

"On Cybertron one isn't born into greatness, but rather one must earn it." He said, casting a glance over the demigods.

"So what kinda different we talkin about" Miko asked "We talkin party animal?" I laughed at the image of Optimus dancing on top of a table to rave music.

"No, no" Ratchet said "He was more like… Jack"

"Me?" I asked. After all how could I be anything like the great Optimus Prime? "I'm nothing like-" Before I could finish my sentence I was interrupted by an incoming transmission on the monitor.

Agent Fowler's Face appeared on screen "Prime" he said "it's cons."

**A/N: So it begins, by the end of the next chapter one will have fallen. Anyway hope you guys enjoyed, this was mostly a expository chapter, as well the following chapters. I apologize if the dialogue isn't word for word with the show, but I will be changing some dialogue for two reasons: The first is because I can't remember it all and am too lazy to look it all up, and the second is because this is a different universe with different characters. I also apologize if anyone is out of character I have difficulty keeping them in character, though don't expect a lot of dialogue from the TFP side characters, particularly Miko. I just find her to be an irritating character to write. As for my other stories, there on hold for now while I work on this one. My goal is to reveal who Jacks godly parent is then maybe return to my other work. Anyway reviews are very appreciated, and if you want to suggest possible plot ideas or learn about my possible plans, PM me.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Injury and Abandonment

**Jack's POV:**

Turns out that the cons had attacked a military facility that had some sort of experimental power source. Luckily, he hadn't noticed Percy, Annabeth, or Grover. After all, the last thing we needed was a repeat of the last time Fowler found humans in the Autobot Base. Once Fowler debriefed them, Arcee, Bulkhead, and Optimus left through the Ground Bridge to begin fending off the Cons.

Since Bumblebee wasn't needed, he and Raf decided to head off and find a place to race their RC cars together.

"Isn't it a bit odd for a transforming robot to race RC cars?" Percy asked.

I just shrugged as the other Autobots exited through the ground bridge.

As they left, Miko stood up and began running after the bots, but I put up an arm to stop her. "Oh no you don't. Remember what happened last time, Miko?"

Percy raised a brow. "Last time? You mean she's tried this before?" he asked.

"At least three or four separate times, and every time she manages to get into some sort of trouble," I answered.

"Hey, all I wanted was some pics of the fight. I mean, who else gets to see giant robots beating the slag out of each other?" she said.

Percy snorted. "I don't know about robots, but I've fought plenty of monsters before, and it's not as fun as it looks."

I mentally face palmed at his comment. Wrong thing to say Percy, wrong thing to say.

Miko stared at him. "Dude!" she yelled. "You fight monsters? How many, what kinds, have you ever fought a Minotaur or Hydra?" She continued listing off questions, as Percy shot Annabeth and Grover a look that said 'help me'.

Grover just shrugged, while Annabeth looked like she was trying to hold back a laugh at his current situation.

Percy turned back to Miko. "Actually, I have fought both, a Hydra and the Minotaur."

"Wait," I said. "If the ancient myths are true, and the Minotaur and Hydra were killed thousands of years ago, then how could you have fought them?"

"Well, you see," he said. "Monsters don't actually die. When you 'kill' one, they turn to dust, and their essence returns to the pits of Tarturus where they'll eventually reform. If you're lucky it can take them a few millennia to reform."

Before he could say any more, he was cut off by a gasp from Ratchet. "By the Allspark, this shouldn't be possible." He turned to Percy. "This sword, what did you say it was made of?"

"Celestial Bronze," he answered. "Why? Are your scanners having difficulty understanding what they're reading?" He asked.

"No, in fact, I found a positive match with the metals in your weapon to a common Cybertronian metal known as Cybertonium." Everyone froze at that revelation. How on Earth could anyone have gotten access to a metal that wasn't even from earth?

Annabeth was the first to ask what everyone was thinking. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Ratchet gestured to the readings on display on his monitor. "While not pure Cybertonium, this celestial bronze contains over 50% purity while the rest is a mixture of standard copper and tin found in bronze."

"Okay wait, what is Cybertonium?" I asked.

"It is a relatively simple metal that mostly comprises the Energon tubes that run through Cybertronians and was used as a primary metal, until the Thirteen discovered more durable and versatile metals," he answered.

The three new comers look dumbfounded by this revelation. In fact, if Percy was any more shocked, I was pretty sure his jaw would have hit the floor.

"So," Annabeth said, "what you're telling us is that the metal that Demigods have used for thousands of years is not only not from Earth, but is an alien metal that's a part of your guys' biology?"

"Simply put, yes, if you look at the comparison between this metal's atomic structure versus the known structure of Cybertonium, they are an exact match if impurities are taken into account," Ratchet said. Everyone just stood silent, unsure of how to process this new information.

The silence was interrupted by the sound of an incoming transmission _"Ratchet," _Optimus said, _"we are in need of reinforcements."_

"Understood Optimus," he said and opened a channel to Bumblebee.

While he did this, I turned my attention back to the others. "This doesn't make any sense," Annabeth said. "The gods themselves have used this metal for eons. Even the blade of Kronos uses it. How could an alien metal have these kinds of effects?"

"Wait. Who's Kronos?" Miko asked. Percy. Annabeth, and Grover froze and looked at each other. They seemed to be debating about something important, probably something concerning this Kronos guy.

"Uh, remember when Bulkhead joked about us waging a secret war?" Percy asked. Miko and I nodded our heads slowly.

"Well, he was right. We are waging a war with the Titan King Kronos. You see, even though Zeus and the other gods chopped him to pieces and threw him into the pits of Tarturus, he somehow was still alive all those millennia. Now, he's come back in a possessed body…" Annabeth flinched slightly at that. I wondered if maybe she knew whoever had been possessed. "…and is trying to overthrow the gods using a prophecy from WWII in order to end western civilization as we know it," Percy finished.

"Oh," Miko said. Her face had a look of shock plastered across it

Annabeth turned to me. "That's why we came looking for you. Demigod recruitment is down to almost zero back at camp, and we are the only ones who can stop Kronos and his army."

I rolled my eyes at her. Not this again. I already told her I wasn't a Demigod. When was she going to let this g?. Apparently not anytime soon as she caught the eye roll. "Think what you will Jack, but Grover detected your heritage, and according to him, you're a very powerful demigod."

"And you're sure that he couldn't be wrong?" I asked. I really couldn't wrap my head around the whole son of a god thing.

She shook her head. "Satyrs are never wrong with identifying demigods. It's why they're the main scouts who search for new demigods."

I just sighed. "You're not going to drop this anytime soon, are you?"

"No, she's not," Grover and Percy said in unison.

Before our conversation could continue, Ratchet received another transmission from Optimu.s _"Ratchet, open the ground bridge and prepare the med bay."_

"Hm, an Autobot must have been injured," he muttered to himself, as he activated the bridge.

All 5 of us ran to the edge of the platform and watched as two figures entered through the ground bridge. The first was Bumblebee, whose door wings were drooping and was holding his helm in both his servos as he walked through.

The second was Arcee, who seemed to be cradling something in her arms. As I leaned over the rail to get a closer look, my breath hitched in my throat. In Arcee's arms, was Raf, whose skin had turned a deathly white. He was hardly moving at all, only groaning slightly.

Everyone else seemed paralyzed by what they saw as well; even Miko was silent for a change. Finally, Ratchet asked what everyone was thinking. "What happened?"

Arcee looked up at him with a fury I have rarely seen before. "Megatron's what happened. He attacked Bee when he was on his way to drop him off."

Ratchet kicked into overdrive mode and ordered Arcee to place him on the berth so he could begin treatment. All 5 of us ran down the stairs to the lower levels to see if we could help in any way.

"Rafael is not responding," Ratchet growled. "We must run diagnostics on his assemblage…vitals…statistics…Agh! My tools! They're all _wrong_!" he screamed as he threw them to the side with a loud clang.

Bee let out a sad wail as he looked over his charge.

Seeing this, I decided it was time to call in the only person who could help at the moment and pulled out my cell phone. "What are you doing?" Ratchet asked.

"Calling Mom for help." I answered

"Jack your mother may be a nurse, but does she know anything about the effects of Energon on the human body?" he argued.

I almost crushed my phone in my death grip. Raf's life was on the line, and he was _arguing_ of all things! "Well do you know anything about the human body?" I shot back. At this, a guilty look crossed his faceplate. Yeah, that's what I thought.

I went back to dialing. "Mom, it's Jack, we need you at base ASAP. It's an emergency."

_5 minutes later…_

Mom's car pulled through the ground bridge portal and stopped at the med bay. I ran up to the car to see if there was anything I could do to help.

"Mom," I said as I ran up to the car.

"Get my medical equipment out of the car." she interrupted. She was in no nonsense nurse mode right now. As I grabbed her medical bag out from the car, she was already at Raf's side, doing a basic survey of his condition. Luckily, she overlooked the other three during her examination.

Ratchet began scanning Raf's body. "Measuring the extent of the absorption should determine the proper extent of treatment…" Ratchet began before being cut off by Mom.

"If I don't stabilize this boy right now, he will not leave this table alive! Do you understand me?" she yelled. Ratchet blinked his optics before nodding in understanding.

I heard and odd clanking noise and looked up to see Bumblebee practically trembling in anger. Suddenly, his arm hit the side of the wall, causing it to crumble and causing all of us minus Mom to flinch. When he did this he began to beep and whir incoherently, clinching his fist in anger.

Before he could do anything else though, Arcee grabbed him by the shoulders and rammed him against the wall. "Get a hold of yourself Bee," she practically ordered. "You think I don't know what it's like to see your partner…" She paused for a minute and I knew why.

Discussing the death of Tailgate and Cliffjumper, her former partners, was always a touchy subject. "…Hurt," she continued. "Revenge won't help Raf right now. You need to keep your emotions in _check_." Bumblebee seemed to calm down a little after that and looked at Raf with a mournful expression, beeping quietly to himself.

Mom put her equipment away. "Jack," I turned to Mom. "Help me get Raf to the car, he's going to the emergency room."

"Percy, help me out," I said as we began to wheel him to the car.

"Nurse Darby," Ratchet said, "Your doctors won't be able to comprehend what's afflicting him, not without a decade of study."

"I don't have time to argue," She stated, as we approached the car.

"The effects of an energon blast on an Autobot can be devastating enough…but this is a _human_," Ratchet said scanning for any energon readings afflicting Raf. "I'm not getting any readings…_how_could I have not _seen_ this? Rafael's been infected with d_ark_ energon…"

Miko, Bee, Arcee, and I all froze at the mention of that horrid substance. Percy, on the other hand, leaned over and whispered, "What's dark energon?"

"Not the time Percy," I growled.

"If dark energon is devouring Raf from the inside out, we must expel it, and fast, the only possible way I know," Ratchet said, grabbing a vial. "I need energon!"

"Wait," Mom said pinching the bridge of her nose. "You said energon was devastating to humans."

"Under normal circumstances quite," Ratchet began, "but I am relying on the dark matter currently invading Rafael's body to meet it, head on," he continued.

Bumblebee stood up and beeped out something. I didn't need a translator to know that he had volunteered himself for the energon. He held out his arm, and Ratchet jammed the vial into it, extracting the blue substance known as energon from Bumblebee's arm.

"I need him over here!" Ratchet yelled, pointing at a large decontamination chamber. "Now!"

Mom, Percy, and I wheeled him into the large glass chamber before exiting and watching the door close shut. Ratchet pulled a lever, and suddenly a blue light began to emanate from the chamber, steadily growing brighter and brighter.

I shielded my eyes, when suddenly a fierce headache passed through for a moment. When I lowered my arm, I realized I wasn't standing in the silo anymore. I seemed to be floating over a large wasteland with a large volcano in the distance, spewing molten lava.

Suddenly, I heard the telltale sign of a jet and saw a silver form land on the rubble below. My blood ran cold as I realized who I saw: The large shape of Megatron, leader of the Decepticons, and enemy of humanity.

He seemed to be ranting to himself about something, though Primus help me I couldn't hear him. He seemed to pause as if hearing something over the radio and spoke again. He turned to his side and watched as a Ground bridge opened up.

To my shock, Optimus walked out of the bridge, and he looked absolutely furious. "Megatron!" he called out, the calm betraying the look of pure fury in his optics. "Today you answer for your crimes against Cybertron and Humanity." He came to a stop a good 200 yards away. "One shall stand," he began.

"And one shall fall," Megatron finished. "_You_ Optimus Prime." With that, both warriors let out a battle cry as they charge towards each other. Right as they got within feet of each other, they raised their fists to strike.

Suddenly, the vision ended and I was back in the silo, right as the light began to die down. I brought a hand to my head as I steadied myself. Arcee shot me a worried glance, but I gave her a reassuring smile. I didn't need to add to the list of concerns for the bots right now. Besides, I didn't even know what the vision meant.

Finally, the light died down and the doors to the chamber opened, and all of us rushed into the chamber.

My mom grabbed Raf's wrist to check his pulse. "Pulse rate is… stabilizing," she said with a sigh of relief.

Raf's eyes slowly opened and seemed to focus on Bee, who had a worried look on his face. "Bee?" he asked weakly. Bee beeped back in a reassuring tone.

Miko let out a 'yes' before wrapping the poor kid in a hug. "Optimus," Ratchet said. "We did it."

"Optimus?" he asked when there was no answer.

"Uh, yeah, about that," Bulkhead said, rubbing the back off his head. Wait. When did Bulkhead get back? He must have shown up during my vision. "He stayed behind to finish off Megatron… For good."

"Bulkhead," Arcee scolded. "You let Optimus go after Megatron alone and you didn't tell us?"

I let out a sigh. I figured everyone else should know about my vision now. "He's not the only one," I said. Everyone turned to look at me with questioning looks. "When Raf was in the decontamination chamber, I got some sort of vision that showed Optimus confronting Megatron by some sort of large volcano, though I didn't see the outcome."

Ratchet turned back to the terminal. "It could be a trap…" He mumbled. "We need to get a fix on his location."

I felt someone staring at me while Ratchet worked and turned to see Annabeth with a smug grin on her face. "What?" I asked.

"Not a demigod hm? Only demigods get visions like that Jack," she said smugly.

I let out a groan. "Again with the whole demigod thing Annabeth?"

Before she could respond, my mom suddenly realized there were three new children in the base. "Wait a minute," she said, "Who are you three, and what did you mean when you said my son was a demigod?"

Annabeth and Percy began to explain everything about who they were and why they were here. At first Mom seemed pretty suspicious, until Grover showed her his hooves. Then she looked close to fainting, if anything.

"I'm with Jack though," she said. "Robert was many things, but a god, he was not. Incredibly handsome, charming, and intelligent: yes; a god: no."

"Mom!" I yelled, mortified.

"What?" she said with a mischievous smile on her face. "It is the truth."

Once again, before the conversation into my supposed godly lineage could be explored further, we were interrupted by Ratchet. "I'm locked onto Optimus's signal." he said, and all humor in the room vanished.

"Wait…" He said as he examined the screen, his optics widening " How is this possible?"

I squinted to get a look at the terminal from the ground floor. The bright blue light that represented the life signal of Optimus was surrounded by purple. There was only one substance I knew of that showed up on the scanners like that.

"We need to get Optimus out of there now!" he screeched.

Ratchet activated the ground bridge, and all the Autobots rushed through to assist their leader. Mom went back to checking over Raf and making sure that he was ok, while I addressed Ratchet "Ratchet?" I asked. "Is that what I think it is?"

He nodded his head solemnly. "Indeed it is, Jack. The location surrounding Optimus is covered in dark energon."

Percy coughed to get his attention. "Yeah about that, what is dark energon? All we know is that it's apparently dangerous to humans."

Ratchet sighed in slight irritation. At least he was starting to act like his old self again. "Dark energon is a substance that is normally dangerous to both humans and Cybertronians alike, though Megatron is the exception to the rule. It is also capable of reviving the dead, although they are brought back as ravenous beasts."

"So basically…" Percy started.

"Zombie-cons." Miko said.

Ratchet received a private com at that moment, and activated the ground bridge, letting the bots back into base. Bee, Bulkhead, and Arcee were supporting a dented and battle scarred Optimus into the Silo. Percy and the others eyes widened at this. They seemed to have accepted that the bots were human, just like Miko, Raf, and I had discovered, these bots could be hurt or even killed.

"Easy Optimus," Ratchet said as he eased him onto a berth. "From the looks of it, you've been exposed to a massive amount of dark energon."

"I am not the only one," he said, gazing at Raf. I was amazed at his selflessness. Even now, beaten, battered, and almost near death, Optimus still cared more for those under his protection than himself.

Raf smiled at the Prime. "Hey," he said weakly.

"He's lucky to be alive," Mom growled at him, causing Optimus to look away with a look of… Shame? On his faceplate.

"So Megatron found more of the dark stuff," I stated hoping to change the subject.

"A whole volcano full," Arcee confirmed

"The question is how?" Bulkhead said.

"No," Ratchet corrected. "The question is what, as in what in the world is the blood of Unicron doing here on Earth?" At the mention of that name, Unicron, I tensed. Something about that named caused every fiber of my being to scream 'evil'.

"The cons killed a unicorn?" Miko asked, with a confused look on her face.

Normally I'd remind Miko to keep a lid on it, but, the confused look that all the bots gave her was hilarious. Percy seemed to just be holding in a laugh while Annabeth rolled her eyes.

Miko sighed. "White horse with a horn on its head, prances around all sparkly?" she asked, acting it out.

"Unicron," Ratchet corrected once again. "An ancient evil whose fossilized blood comprises the matter which we call dark energon, as legend would have it."

"So you're saying this Unicron… Is some sort of boogieman?" Mom asked, ignoring the snort of laughter from Percy.

"Boogieman?" Ratchet asked, confused.

"Creepy make believe guy that hides in your closet?" Miko asked, looking to see if it rang any bells. At this point, Percy had broken into fits of laughter while Grover chuckled. Meanwhile, Annabeth just smiled slightly.

"No, Nurse Darby," Ratchet sighed. "Unicron is very real; was...that is…well, I do believe he once existed. I just don't subscribe to the theory that his primordial life force is the substance which…harmed Raf."

"I've heard enough," Mom sighed. "Jack, please help me get Raf into the car."

I opened my mouth to protest, but she shot me the 'If you open your mouth you're grounded' glare. Surprisingly, I ignored it. "Mom, I thought you said Raf was doing better."

"Raf needs to be examined by _real_ doctors and Raf's family needs to know what's happened." She shot the 'Bots an icy glare. "His _real_family."

"Mom," I protested. "Raf's family can't protect him, not like they can."

Mom opened her mouth to respond, when I heard the creaking of metal, and turned to see Optimus struggling to stand, despite Ratchet's slight protests. "June," Optimus said, trembling slightly. "It deeply grieves me that I have failed, but I will do everything in my power to ensure that no harm comes to our human friends or any human ever again."

It was true. Despite having unintentionally brought us into the war, Optimus had never once intentionally put us into danger. He would rather sacrifice himself than allow any human to come to harm.

Mom just sighed. "Optimus, they're children. They do not belong in your world. They should be worrying about grades, prom, dates, pimples, _not_ their own survival."

"Ma'am," Percy said. "I haven't been with the bots very long, heck just a few hours really. But if there is one thing I've learned, it's that they're the only ones that could keep any of us safe. My dad will probably kill me for saying this, but I don't even think the gods could do anything about the current problem."

Mom took slight notice of Percy's protest before she gritted her teeth. "You're coming with me. All six of you!" She practically yelled that last bit.

The hurt in Optimus's eyes was the most emotion I had ever seen him express before. "I… understand," he said quietly.

"That's it?!" Miko demanded as Mom wheeled Raf to the car. "After all we've been through together? See ya? What about _our_ freedom to choose?"

"That may fly on their planet," she growled, as she helped Raf into the car, "But not here on Earth!" She glared at all six of us. "Get. In," she snapped, causing me to flinch slightly. I've only ever heard her use that voice twice. Both times had ended poorly for the person it was used on.

Miko snorted. "Do you _really_ except me to get into a non-transforming vehicle?" she asked.

"Miko, I'm serious," she growled.

Miko twisted away defiantly. "You're not my mother!" she snapped.

"Miko," Bulkhead said softly.

"Neither are you!" she retorted, causing him to widen his optics in shock. Miko never snapped at Bulkhead. She really didn't want to go.

Mom addressed to other three. "You three?"

"No offense Mrs. D," Percy said. "But I've been attacked by Minotaurs, hydras, vampires, cannibal giants, sea monsters, turned into a guinea pig, nearly killed by grapevines, and attacked by my cousin, who happens to be the war god, and that was all before I met the Autobots. I'm staying here." The other two nodded in agreement.

She turned to me _'Oh no,' _I thought. "Well I am your mother," she said. "Let's go Jack," she gestured to the car.

I clenched my fist in anger and looked up at Arcee, my friend and partner. She gave me a sad smile. "She is your mom," she said quietly. She may have outwardly agreed with my mom, but I could see it in her optics. This was just as hard on her as it was me.

I made the hardest decision of my short life then and there. I chose to disobey my mother. "I'm staying," I stated. "I'm sorry."

A look of sadness overcame my mother. I had only ever seen it once before, the day my dad had disappeared all those years ago. He had left a note on the kitchen counter saying that he left to keep us safe or some crap like that. She'd spent the rest of the night crying in her bedroom. Afterwards, she put on a brave face for me, but something told me she still hoped he would come back some day.

The look quickly passed and she got into the car, slamming the door.

"Ratchet, open a ground bridge," Optimus said.

"No thanks," she half growled, half snarled. And with that, she drove out of the base.

We all just stood there for a moment, in utter silence, when Miko broke the silence. "Hey, where's Bumblebee?"

**A/N: Yes it's finally here. I apologize for the long wait, but the final stretch at school took up all my free time. But now that it's over, I can start updating much faster now. Anyway, has anyone figured out who Jack's godly parent is? I bet you'll never guess. I am so looking forward to the next few chapters. I've had them planned out for a long while now. Hope you guys enjoyed the story, and remember review with critique or even plot ideas. You guys make this stuff worth writing.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Unicron

**Jacks POV:**

After mom left I felt horrible. I had always been there for her after dad had left. And then when she needed me most, I abandoned her.

I put my hands on my face and sat on one of the crates on the upper levels, trying to forgive myself for what I had done. Of course the at this time Fowler decided to call in.

"Prime do you copy?" Fowler asked as his face appeared on screen

"I hear you, Agent Fowler" Optimus said with a slight sadness in his voice.

"Been watching the news ? Mother nature's got a twitch in her britches." Fowler said.

"We know about the volcano." Optimus said as the five of us humans turned on the TV to watch the news report.

"And the quakes?" Fowler asked, "Seven major temblors of the exact same magnitude at the exact same time as a volcanic eruption. All over the globe on different tectonic plates."

His image switched to another screen as a 3D image of earth popped up on screen, showing the epicenters of the quakes.

"In theory unrelated…" Fowler started, "If they hadn't happened."

"At the exact same time." Ratchet finished.

"Check it out" Miko said "More good news."

She had flicked onto a weather channel. Depressing was putting it lightly.

_"Freak storms unlike any the region has seen, tsunamis threaten the Canadian coast while lightning storms pummel the Gobi desert,"_the news reporter said as the screen switched between various locations being hit with freak weather, _"Meanwhile electro-magnetic anomalies plague urban power grids, these abnormal global phenomena are leaving most to wonder, why now? And what next?"_

"This, doesn't make any sense." Annabeth said "The gods would never do something like this."

"What if it's not the gods?" I asked

"What could be powerful enough to take control of the weather away from Zeus?" She retorted.

Fowler still had his attention focused on the bots "Don't tell me the cons have built a weather machine!" He demanded.

"One of that size and magnitude" Ratchet snorted, "Highly unlikely."

"I do not believe the appearance of Dark Energon at this point in time to be coincidental," Optimus said in a foreboding tone.

"Wait" Percy said "If these storms are global, we need to get June and Raf in the silo, it should be able to handle the weather right?"

"You are correct Percy," Optimus said "the silo was designed to handle all forms of extreme earth environments. It is likely that Bumblebee has already followed Nurse Darby and Rafael to ensure their safety."

While this put the others at ease, I was a wreck. I couldn't help like feel that this was somehow my fault that mom was out there in that mess. But before I could feel worse for myself, I felt a familiar headache pass.

I felt my legs weaken and I began to fall forward, as the others tried calling out to see if I was okay.

_'Oh no' _I thought _'Here we go again.'_ and with that I blacked out.

The next thing I knew I was standing on a platform, high above the clouds over a city. As I looked closer I realized that the city was New York and that I was above the Empire State Building. I looked to the side and saw a massive electric storm approaching the city.

Before I could look closer though, my vision shifted once again. I flew higher and higher passing the clouds, until I passed a thick layer, and to my surprise, saw what looked like an ancient Greek city, made new.

_'This must be Olympus.' _I thought to myself. _' But what's it doing over New York city?'_

Before my question could be answered, I noticed two men standing on a platform overlooking the city. One had slicked back hair and wore a windbreaker, while the other seemed to be dressed in khaki shorts, and a ridiculous Hawaiian T-shirt. If I had to guess this was Zeus and Poseidon kings of the ocean and air respectively.

From what I could tell they both seemed disturbed by what they saw below. Suddenly, a new figure appeared, a woman with blonde hair and storm grey eyes, dressed in a simple white blouse and jeans. That had to be Athena, Annabeth's mother.

"Zeus, Poseidon, what in Hades are you two doing to the weather. I know that Kronos is a threat that must be dealt with, but this is not the way to do it." She yelled.

The two gods turned to her "We are not responsible for these events Athena" Zeus said "Something of ancient and evil power has taken control of our respective domains."

Athena raised an eyebrow at them "You don't think it could be Gaia do you?" She asked concern in her voice.

Poseidon shook his head "No, whatever this is, it is far older and far more evil than the Earth Goddess. Even she could not so easily steal our domains from us. Whatever this is, it is the most powerful creature on Earth."

As he finished my vision slowly began to fade, and I regained consciousness in the silo. As I awoke, I saw the concerned look of every human and Bot staring down at me.

"You okay Jack?" Arcee asked as I slowly stood up.

"Yeah" I answered "I'm fine, just receiving another prophetic vision again."

Annabeth opened her mouth to say something, but I held up a hand to stop her "Not a word." I said.

"Jack, what is it that you saw?" Optimus asked.

I explained to them the vision I received. Percy and Annabeth in particular seemed disturb.

"This isn't good" She said "First a near mythical alien power source starts erupting from the earth, and now some ancient evil took over the gods domain. If this isn't the end times nothing it's real close."

The familiar sound of Bumblebees engine driving into base interrupted our conversation. We all turned our attention to the scout as he came to a stop and let Raf and mom out "Uh, we're back" Raf said sheepishly.

"And we are glad" Ratchet said sincerely for once.

I on the other hand ran down the stairs to mom as quickly as possible "Are you alright?" I asked as I approached trying to hide the tears of relief in my eyes.

"I will be" she said with a half smile "Jack.."

"Mom, I…" I started, but couldn't find the words.

"I know. me too" She said as she wrapped me in a hug. And like that everything in the world felt good again. You know if you ignored the coming apocalypse.

Mom broke our hug "But you're grounded till your thirty." She stated. I looked down in shame "Twenty-Five" She amended, making me look up with a smile.

With our family issues solved for now, we headed back upstairs as another news report began _"World leaders are classifying these bizarre weather patterns as a global emergency,"_ The news reporter said.

"Global?" Mom asked in confusion, and I explained my vision to her again. When I finished she had a look of fear on her face, as the news report continued "_scientists believe the phenomena to be somehow related to the current planetary alignment."_

"And the forty seven spheres shall align" I whispered to myself. Wait, how did I know that? That sounded like a prophecy of some kind, but I had never heard a prophecy like that in all my life.

Suddenly the elevator doors opened, and Fowler walked out, thankfully interrupting the disturbing quiet that had settled over the base "What have you learned, Prime?" Fowler demanded, "And you better not blow smoke up my…uh Mrs. Darby…What a nice surprise…" He said in embarrassment.

I shook my head. It was obvious that fowler had the hot's for mom. But he didn't know that she never filed for divorce, and that he would have been a poor replacement for dad.

"Agent Fowler" She politely responded

At this time, Fowler also finally noticed our three new human guests "And exactly who are you three?" He demanded.

"Long story, sir" Percy said "It'd be best if you just talk with Optimus."

"Right" he said suspiciously before returning his attention to Prime "So again what have you learned?"

Ratchet answered his question instead "We have learned this, as of the so called magma from the volcano, these earthquakes originated far below the Earth's crust, from the very center of the earth's core in fact," Ratchet explained showing an outline of our planet and a flashing red center.

"Quakes don't start there," Fowler scoffed, "do they?"

"Tiny tremors rising and falling in a consistent pattern, almost like..." Ratchet then suddenly stopped as he stared at the waves on screen, "By the All Spark!"

That's not good. Every time he says that phrase, our grasps of reality completely changes.

"If I convert these data points to audio files…" he started, messing with the terminal.

"What? What is it?" Fowler demanded.

"Listen," Ratchet ordered.

We all froze as we listened. Suddenly a large thudding sound began to resound through the base in a distinct pattern. It sounded familiar, and suddenly I came to a conclusion "A Cybertronian heartbeat?"

"How is that possible?" mom whispered "A heart pumps blood, there's nothing inside the earth to pump except…"

Raf sat bolt upright from his position on the couch.

"The blood of Unicron," he said, eyes wide.

Everyone stared at him in shock, even Agent Fowler.

Of course, Annabeth was the first to speak up "That, shouldn't be possible

"Okay hold on," Miko said, "You mean something's living down there, inside our planet?"

"I fear that the earth's very core is not comprised of magma, as your science has suggested," Optimus said softly, "But, of dark Energon."

This… This couldn't be right…

"And if we're hearing a spark," Ratchet said, "then _Unicron_ is the rising darkness that the prophecy foretold."

A prophecy? Could he be referring to the one I had recited a part of earlier. No that had to be a coincidence. Right?

"So, how do we stop this thing from rising?" Fowler asked.

"That I'm afraid was not foretold." Optimus said.

"How can something be in our earth's core, and be alive?" Annabeth asked "After all, Tarturus is the closet one can get to the core."

Fowler shot her a confused look "I got this." Percy said as he took Fowler aside to again explain the who they were.

Optimus turned to the demigod "Such a thing is not unprecedented. Before the beginning, there was Primus and there was Unicron. One the incarnation of creation, the other of destruction,"

Why did this sound so familiar, as if someone had told it to me long ago. I shook my head _'Coincidence.' _I thought.

"For eons Primus and Unicron battled," Optimus continued "the balance of power shifting between them more times than could be counted. Only by creating the Thirteen, the original Primes that preceded me, was Primus finally able to defeat Unicron, and cast him out. Primus became one with the very core of our planet, creating life through the well of all sparks, while Unicron was never to be heard from again. Until, now."

"Maybe we can find the hole this uber-con left when he dug himself all the way down there and fill it full of explosives!" Fowler suggested as he finished his quick history lesson with Percy. He seemed to take it well all things considered.

"Agent Fowler, I do not believe that earth became Unicron's home," Optimus corrected, "But rather that with time and gravitational force, debris collected around the slumbering titan."

"That's not possible" Annabeth argued "Earth was created eons ago by the parents of the titans, not your equivalent of satan."

"Annabeth" Optimus said "It is possible that with the passage of time, initial records of how Earth was truly created was lost. It could be possible that Unicron's power may very well have influenced the creation of the initial beings of power who ruled Earth before the Titans and Gods you know of today."

She opened her mouth to argue again, but closed it after a moment's thought. It sorta made sense if you thought about it. At least to me it did. But then again I was seeing visions of gods and goddesses so my opinion wasn't very useful at the moment.

"Okay question" Percy asked "If what your suggesting is true, why is Unicron only waking up now?"

"He's probably only awakening now due to the magnetic pull created by the planetary alignment." Arcee answered. Again made sense.

"Okay well, what happens now when Unicron wakes up from his billion year nap?" I asked.

"Yeah does he stretch and kapow! Earth poofs to dust?" Miko asked, mimicking the explosion, and causing Grover to fall on his rear in surprise.

"You don't know…do you?" Mom asked.

"My guess is that Unicron has transcended physical form as we know it," Optimus said "nonetheless we must find a way to ensure that this force of nature never fully awakens. The fate of your planet depends on it."

* * *

The bots had all split up exploring different sights of recent earthquakes to evaluate how soon Unicron would awaken. The rest of us were waiting in the upper area again, awkwardly silent as the time passed unsure of what to do.

Suddenly Ratchets terminal lit up "Optimus" He commed "I'm detecting a swell in Unicron's spark activity."

_"Rest assured Ratchet, I shall proceed with vigilance"_ he responded leaving the comm. open. We could hear his heavy footsteps over the comm. when suddenly we heard the sound of collapsing rubble over the radio.

Before anyone could ask what happened a deep booming voice echoed over the comm. It had a timeless quality to it that suggested it was ancient and intelligent all at the same time _"Do you know who I am, follower of Primus?_"It asked. There was only one person this could possibly be.

Optimus seemed to know as well _"Unicron, the chaos-bringer"_

_"Good"_ He mocked, and suddenly there was the sound of more rubble collapsing _'Now know me as Unicron your destroyer!"_

We couldn't see what was happening, but we heard a slight scuffle as blasts and blades were exchanged. But then the telltale sign of weapons shifting into servos sounded.

"Optimus" Ratchet yelled over the radio, "What are you doing."

Optimus ignored the ranting medic _"I humbly request your ear lord Unicron"_

Silence _"And what would a Prime be so compelled to say to me?"_ Unicron sounded legitimately confused that Optimus had stopped fighting. Truthfully I think we all were.

Optimus continued _"I make this appeal, not for myself, But for this planet for which you constitute, and the beings who inhabit it. Human kind and their gods rely upon you for sustenance. Your awakening would only destroy the beings who were spawned by your very greatness."_It hit me then that Optimus would make a very good politician. His ability to kiss aft was incredible.

_"And you consider this human kind and their gods, to be my Progeny?"_ Unicron asked.

"_Indeed"_ Optimus answered. Again silence.

_"Parasites, "_He yelled _"They too shall feel my wrathful hand."_

"Aw man" Percy said causing us to all turn to him "Daddy doesn't love us."

"Really Percy?" I asked.

"What, I couldn't resist" I rolled my eyes at him and returned my attention to the comm. which was filled with blaster fire. Then the sound of collapsing rock and metal, followed by more collapsing rubble.

Suddenly, a chorus of voices filled the comm. _"Yes Disciple of Primus, on this very day, For Unicron may be only one, but we are all Unicron!" _

The remaining Autobots gathered into base preparing to bridge to Optimus's location despite the his protests, that this was his battle to fight. As the three turned to walk in "Arcee" I called, she turned to "Be careful" I said.

She smiled and nodded before running through the portal. When it closed we listened intently to the sounds of battle. It seemed like the Bots might fight off all of Unicrons earth clones, when suddenly the sound of booming footsteps could be heard. Then a huge collapse of rubble.

_"Ugh, what happened" _Bulkhead asked over the comm.

_"I happened!" _We all froze except for Percy, Annabeth, and Grover, who didn't know the voice. It was a voice that sounded dark and sinister, like the sound of metal being run over metal. It was the voice of Megatron.

_"Megatron"_ The bots growled

"King Con's there too?" Miko asked.

"He has aligned himself with Unicron!" Ratchet snarled in disgust.

_"Don't be so sure…"_ Arcee said, _"Megatron just saved Optimus' tailpipe."_

"What!?" we all shouted, in shock.

"Why would he help Optimus" I asked

"Maybe he didn't like taking orders from a guy with a bigger ego than him." Miko suggested. The eight of us continued to debate this until we were interrupted by Ratchet, again.

"ALIGNING WITH THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS IS _STILL_ ALIGNING WITH EVIL!" Ratchet roared.

Wait, what did we miss?

_"Do you think you've witnessed the full power of Unicron?"_ Megatron sneered, _"Those foot soldiers were nothing more than a taste!_ _Unicron has yet to fully awaken! With each passing moment the bringer of chaos evolves. Mutating earth from the inside out, what we have witnessed until now is but a prelude of the utter devastation his rising will wreak upon your world!"_

_"Like your quest for power destroyed Cybertron?"_ Arcee snapped.

_"Make no mistake,_this_time there will be a planet left for me to rule!"_Megatron growled

_"Even if we agree, Unicron's all the way down at the center of the earth,"_ Bulkhead said, _"how are we supposed to get there_drive_?"_

_"There is only one way."_ Optimus stated calmly.

"Absolutely not_!_" Ratchet nearly screamed, "Ground-bridging into space or onto moving trains is difficult enough…but plotting a blind jump_**inside**_of a sentient _being_? Besides, direct exposure to that much Dark Energon will _debilitate_ you! You haven't built up an immunity like _Megatron_ has!"

_"Yet another strong argument for soliciting…my guidance,"_the warlord said, a smirk evident in his tone. I really hated that guy.

Mom seemed to agree, she wore a scowl of pure hate whenever he spoke.

_"You can provide Unicron's exact co-ordinates?"_ Optimus asked.

_"If you transport us to this planet's core…I can lead you directly into Unicron's spark,"_Megatron stated, _"The very heart…of his **darkness**!"_

_"Optimus,"_Arcee started, _"even if we survive the jump, how are we supposed to stop Unicron?"_

There was dead silence.

_"With the Matrix of Leadership,"_ Optimus finally said.

"What is that?" Fowler asked.

"A vessel of pure energy," Ratchet said, shaking his helm, "the collective wisdom of the Primes,"

"Do we even have time for a scavenger hunt?" I asked, "I mean where's Optimus supposed to find this Matrix?"

"Optimus already carries it within him," Ratchet explained

_"It was the combined power of the Primes that defeated Unicron so long ago,"_ Megatron said, _"The very reason he now seeks to destroy_you_**, **__Optimus Prime."_

_"It would follow that unleashing the power of the Matrix directly into Unicron's spark…would return him to stasis,"_ Optimus reasoned.

"Hold on, if everything goes _right_" Percy said, "Unicron's gonna stay down there?"

"Yeah," I agreed, "Can't we…siphon him out somehow?"

"He's not _in_ the Earth's core, Jack," Raf said, frightened, "he _**is**_ the earth's core."

The way he said it, made the whole situation even more terrifying.

"Rafael is correct," Ratchet said, "tampering with your core could affect the magnetic pull, trigger the very cataclysmic events we are attempting to remedy. Tragically, Unicron is your planet's very seed, always has been and always, _must _be."

Well nothing says come stay at our planet, like having the harbinger of death living in the core.

_"Ratchet send a Ground bridge,"_ Optimus said.

The bridge sprang to life, and the team walked through slowly. They seemed to be relatively unharmed, but they seemed exhausted.

"Optimus," Ratchet said, "what is the plan?"

"We need my Megatrons help," Optimus sighed, "We must accept his offer."

"I know desperate times call for desperate measures," Ratchet protested, "but bringing Megatron _here_?"

"_How_ could you even think about letting that monster near these children after what he did to Raf?!" Mom yelled, holding Raf closer to her.

Optmius's faceplate hardened when she mentioned Raf "He will be closely monitored…and only aloud to linger long enough to send us on our journey," Optimus growled, through his denta, "Not one moment more."

"What's gonna stop the 'Con from calling in an air strike if he knows where you live?" Fowler asked.

"By Ground bridging Megatron here," Optimus explained, "he will be unable to get a fix on our co-ordinates."

That made sense, but what would happen if they succeeded "Optimus?" I asked, "What's going to happen to you when all your Matrix energy is released?"

"The power within the Matrix has not been previously utilized in this particular manner," he replied,

"But…" I started, "You have an idea, don't you?"

Silence. He didn't know. He didn't know but he was going to do it anyway.

"Autobots, if humankind is to be saved, I have no choice but to proceed," he said turning to the team, "But you do."

"Well I don't know about human kind…" Bulkhead started, "but I'm willing to do it...for Miko."

"For Jack," Arcee added, causing me to smile a little.

'Bee gave a beep and, Raf smiled.

"Gee thanks" Percy said. Annabeth elbowed him "Ow" He yelped "What was that for."

"Be polite seaweed brain." she commanded Wait, that was her nickname for him? Seaweed brain? Oh Primus I will never let him live that down.

"I was just trying to lighten the mood" He responded, leading to another elbow "Ow, will you stop doing that?"

"Will you stop talking?" she retorted.

"You two going to keep bickering or make out?" Miko asked. The two of them froze and looked at her, with mortified looks on their faces. They immediately turned away from each other, faces bright red.

With that little dispute settled Optimus activated the terminal "Megatron," Optimus said, "we are sending transport."

_"You can always be relied upon to listen to reason, Optimus."_ Megatron remarked.

The Groundbridge fired, and Ratchet shooed us all towards a hallway. "You all need to hide, _now_," he said.

"Urgh no fair!" Miko whined, "I haven't even _seen_him, why do we have to hide?"

"Because I said so," Ratchet commanded. Can't argue with that logic.

Percy turned to us with a smirk as Ratchet walked away "Well he never said anything about peeking around the corner did he?"

I let out a snort "You're almost as bad as Miko you know that?"

"It's a gift he has" Annabeth said, ignoring Percy's indignant "hey" as we all peeked around the corner.

We all looked or rather heard Megatron slowly walking down the Ground Bridge walkway, each step sounding like the loud boom of a ringing clock tower.

Finally, the warlord stepped out of the Bridge fully, and for several of the humans here, they saw him for the first time. Percy, Annabeth, and Grover had never even seen a photo of him, and had mixed looks of fear and anger on their faces. Miko and Mom looked at him with a mix of anger and disgust, while Raf had a look of pure anger on his face.

Megatron looked around the Silo "So, _this_is where the magic happens…" Megatron said, "_quaint_."

Suddenly, Raf dashed out from the corner directly towards Megatron.

"Raf!" I cried, running after him. I didn't know what he planned to do or say, but it wouldn't end well for anyone.

"Rafael, Jack!" Mom cried, "No!"

Raf came to a stop a dozen or so feet from the warlord.

"You…" he growled with a coldness I had never heard from him before.

I put my arm on his shoulder to keep him from going any further. I glared up at Megatron, almost daring him to come forwards.

"Ah," Megatron said as Arcee placed herself between us and him pointing her blasters at him.

"You're looking much better than the last we met little one, humans...resilient," Megatron smirked, like he was amazed that Raf had the nerve to survive.

I shot an angry glare at Megatron. If it weren't for the fact that we needed him and that I was only humans, I would have trashed the floor with him then and there, for everything he had done to me and my family.

"Come one, Raf," I said, through gritted teeth, "He isn't worth it."

Raf nearly vibrated with anger under my hands. Mom came and took him, shooting a venomous glare at Megatron.

"And you…" Megatron said. I stopped.

"I never forget a face, even that of a human," he said.

I looked calmly at him, silently, and walked towards the others.

And of course Miko in all her tactfulness did one of the stupidest things I have ever seen anyone do. She ran up to the warlord and screamed "YOU DOUBLE-CROSS _ANYONE_, _MINE_IS THE FACE YOU'll NEVER FORGET!" she screeched, _"NEVERRRR!"_

Before she could rant any further, Fowler grabbed her, and pulled her back while she struggled to break his grip.

"You were right" Percy whispered "She is reckless."

I just nodded in reply.

"Ratchet" Optimus said "Retrieve the coordinates from our… guest." It seemed that even for Prime that was the nicest any one could call Megatron. Megatron just smirked as he approached the terminal and began listing off the coordinates of Unicron's spark.

The rest of us began walking back down the hall, when I heard the sound of heavy footsteps behind me "Jack" I heard Optimus call softly. I turned to him and saw him look behind him before he turned back to me "Will you… Keep something for me?" he asked quietly.

I shrugged "Of course."

He pulled a thin piece of intricate metal, and as he handed it to me, it slowly shrank in size, pieces moving in smooth unison, until it could fit in a human hand.

I looked at the piece of metal in my hand "What is it?" I asked.

"It is…"Optimus seemed to be looking for an answer "The key to the Ground Bridge power supply." now I'm not the best at reading Cybertronian faceplates, but It was obvious that Optimus had just lied to my face. But if he felt he had to lie about this object to keep it safe, I figured I wouldn't confront him about it.

But still " But…shouldn't Ratchet have this?"

"Perhaps," Optimus said, "but I've been impressed by how much you have matured since we first met. As such, I feel you have earned the responsibility of safe guarding this important device...until I return." The pause sealed it. Optimus had no idea if he would survive the release of the matrix.

The way he said it, I decided there was one thing he could be certain of. Whatever this object really was, I wouldn't lose. Not now, not ever.

"I won't let you down," I said. The prime Smiled slightly and stood back up and turned to prepare to go through the portal. To save Earth, or die trying.

* * *

I sat on the railing lightly tapping the key on the side as I thought about all the events of the past few hours. Really, I should have been shocked by all that had happened and been revealed, but honestly this just felt like another day at work.

Of course, the news from the TV wasn't helping _"More than 60 volcanoes are erupting worldwide…and downtown Honolulu is under six inches of snow."_ the reporter said.

"Shave Ice anyone?" Percy asked.

I face palmed "Really Percy?"

"What?"

I just shook my head as I returned my attention to the television _"Scientists continue to devise theories connecting these unprecedented natural disasters with the planetary alignment which..."_ and there was a bunch of static.

"Well so much for TV" Grover whimpered. I gave the poor satyr a sympathetic look. Out of the three, he seemed to be handling everything that happened the worst. Hopefully though things would get better soon. After all, no one wanted the Earth to explode.

"So" Mom said clasping her hands together "Who wants to play a game."

I shot her a look that said 'really'?

"Not a good idea" Percy said "Grover might eat the board."

"It's not my fault" He bleated "I get eat when I get nervous." As if to prove it he pulled out a Styrofoam cup and started gnawing on it. I can safely say that is the weirdest thing to have happened all day.

"That tears it!" Fowler yelled, storming towards the computers.

"Where are _you_ going?" Mom asked.

"I can't just sit on my hands while the world spins out of control!" Fowler cried, throwing up his hands.

"And what exactly is it that you intend to do?" Ratchet asked, turning his blue-green gaze on the agent.

"Anything!" Fowler yelled, "Hook up with my boys at the pentagon, figure out a way to bury that monster for good."

"But isn't he already buried?" Percy whispered to Annabeth.

"Let him rant." She whispered back.

"In the event Optimus _can't_?" Ratchet growled.

"Don't you mean Optimus and _Megatron_?" Fowler retorted.

"No one here is thrilled about this arrangement Agent Fowler, myself included," Ratchet sighed, "But with Optimus and Megatron together again..."

"Whoa w-wait?" I interrupted, "_Again_?"

"Megatron was an Autobot?" Raf asked.

"Optimus was a 'Con?" Miko gasped.

"No, on either count," Ratchet said, "but there was a time, back on Cybertron in the twilight hours of the Golden Age, when Optimus and Megatron were not…sworn enemies,"

He looked at the assembled humans before him.

"Do you re-call when I mentioned Optimus wasn't always a Prime?" Ratchet asked, "Well he wasn't always _Optimus_ either."

"He was once a clerk, in the Iacon Hall of Records," Ratchet continued, "named…Orion Pax. But as he learned more about Cybertron's past…he grew increasingly concerned about the present corruption in high places. An inequality among the masses."

"Wait what do you mean inequality among the masses?" Annabeth asked, main they were a curios lot "I know your sentient machines, but why would there be an inequality amongst the masses?"

Ratchet gave her an annoyed look before continuing "Before the war, Cybertron followed a cast system. When you emerged from the Well of Allsparks, or your creators sired you, you were placed into a given caste for life. But not only were you confined to a single occupation, but even the places you could go, were limited. All except for the gladiator pits. Cybertronians of all castes would flock to the fights to escape the oppression of the castes. It was there" He continued "that Orion became inspired by the words and ideas of a gladiator…one who had named himself after one of the 13 original Primes…Megatronus."

Ratchet shot the three a look that basically asked if they had any more questions before continuing "Megatronus vowed to challenge Cybertron's leadership and demand all Cybertronians be treated as equals! This gladiator turned revolutionary rapidly gathered a loyal following…Soundwave chief among them.

"Orion began corresponding with Megatronus once again, as they had separated to follow their different paths, Megatronus had become more than just a brother to Orion, he became as a mentor to him. As Megatronus left the gladiatorial arena for the political, he saw fit to shorten his name. Before long _Megatron_ appeared before the High Council to purpose his vision…for a just society. And it was here that he began to reveal his true colors, proclaiming the need to overthrow the Old Guard with force and arrogantly demanding to be named the next Prime.

"But Orion did not believe in violence as a means of achieving justice. The sparks and minds of the Council were moved by _Orion's_ words…_here_ for the first time since Cybertron's Golden Age…stood someone worthy of being a Prime! But that honor could only truly be achieved…by earning the legendary Matrix of Leadership.

"His ambitions thwarted, Megatron spitefully severed all ties with his brother and the Council…and came to wage war on all who opposed him through his growing army of followers which he named… Decepticons.

"He vowed to claim the Matrix for himself wherever it might lie. In time warfare consumed Cybertron, poisoning the planet to its core. Orion journeyed there, hoping to reverse the ill effects and found himself before the very spark of our life giver…Primus himself.

"The ailing Primus sensed the innate nobility within Orion and bestowed the Matrix upon him. It was thus that a surprised and humble Orion Pax came to be, Optimus, the last of the Primes."

"**And soon the last of the primes shall be no more"** A deep voice rumbled through the silo.

"No." Ratchet whispered

**"Indeed, follower of Prime"** The voice said, and suddenly a large spike face, with glowing purple eyes formed out of the walls of the silo **"If you had truly believed your pathetic shielding would hide you from me, Unicron, then you were truly a fool."**

We all looked at the face in horror, as it broke free of the wall, revealing Unicron in all his horrifying glory. His body was covered in rocky spikes, as well as being composed of numerous minerals, and was massive, well over 80 feet tall, taller than Megatron or Optimus.

Ratchet, to his credit, charged the chaos-bringer, blades drawn. Unicron however, easily swatted him to the side, knocking him into the wall.

**"But you are not the one I am searching for. I have come to cleanse this place, of the taint of Primus himself."**He declared as he turned back towards us.

"Your too late" I yelled despite the fact that I was absolutely terrified "Optimus and the others are heading towards your core as we speak, and they're going to shut you down."

Unicron chuckled as he slowly strolled towards us **"Do you think I was searching for the Prime!? No I am cleansing this land of the taint of Primus himself."**And with that he raised his spiked right arms in an attempt smash us all at once.

He would have succeeded to, when suddenly, a bright white light appeared in the base flew in front of the Avatar, blasting it back.

**"Who dares attack Unicron"** The titan demanded

The light suddenly began to increase its brightness and changed shape and form. When the light finally died down, all of us, even the downed Ratchet gaped at the mech who stood before us.

He was massive, easily over twice the size of Unicron Avatar, His head brushing the ceiling of the Silo. He was covered in white armor, that seemed to radiate a soft healing light, literally. The dents and scratches covering Ratchet were quickly healing in the beings presence. His armor was also covered, in gold and blue highlights, and his optics were a brilliant warm gold color. Overall the mech appeared very regal and powerful, but also kind and caring as well.

Unicron's own optics widened in recognition **"Primus!" **He screamed **"You dare to attack me!"**

Primus looked down at Unicron before speaking in a warm flowing voice, that seemed both familiar, and alien **"Unicron**" He spoke "**You have no power here and you know it."**

The chaos-bringer scoffed at him **"This is my world Primus, you are the one with no power here."**

Primus leaned forward until his own clean faceplate was inches from Unicron's own filthy earthen faceplate **"Then hear me now Unicron. While I may not be able to expel you from Earth all together, I can expel you from this silo. So listen well, for so long as the Matrix of Leadership is in the servos of a prime, you or any of your followers are forbidden from ever entering this base. It is to be a safe haven to all Cybertronians and humans alike from your wrath."**

Unicron's optics widened even further **"You dare"**

**"Oh yes Unicron I do indeed dare."** Primus raised a servo to his helm **"Now Unicron, be gone!"** And he flicked the chaos-bringer in the helm, causing the rest of his form to collapse into a pile of rubble

We all stared awe-strucked at what just happened, completely unable to say or do anything, when Primus turned to us, with a soft smile on his faceplate.

Ratchet though, was the first, as usual to speak, or stutter really "Y-y-y your Pr-pr-primus." Well at least he hadn't fainted yet.

The Cybertronian god grinned **"Indeed I am Ratchet. It is good to see that you have not lost your way with words."**

I'm pretty sure if his jaw wasn't attached, it would have hit the floor. That said, Ratchet was doing a great impression of a fish out of water, gawking at Primus "H-he kn-knows my n-name Primus Knows my name!" He shouted excitedly, like a fangirl when a celebrity recognized them.

Primus raised an eyebrow at him "**I know the names of all Cybertronians whether I created them, or if they were sired by those who were bonded.**"

"I yes, of course, that'd make, but if you don't mind me asking, why are you here Primus, not that I'm not thankful you're here, but I thought you had fallen into a deep recharge to recover from the war." At this point I was amazed the Ratchet hadn't overheated from speaking for so long without venting.

Of course when Ratchet finished, Primus let out a deep booming laugh, that made everyone else in the area begin to laugh a little too. When it died down, he addressed Ratchet again "**Ratchet, I may be in recharge even now, but I am an omnipotent being, watching the last of the primes requires little effort. However that is not the only reason I am here."**

"I-it's not?" Ratchet asked

Primus shook his head "**No, but this matter is personal."** Primus looked at us assembled humans, who at this point where pretty much glued to where we stand. This whole exchange had been surreal and I was pretty sure nothing would surprise me at this point. Of course the universe just loves to prove me wrong.

Primus resumed his original light form, which was about six feet in diameter and floated in front of me and mom, before assuming a new form. When the light cleared, My jaw dropped at the figure standing before us, and mom clasped her hands over her mouth muffling her cry, as tears formed in her eyes.

Standing before us was a man in a white t-shirt, blue jeans, with black hair, a strong jaw line, and yellow hazel eyes that were filled with a single emotion. Happiness.

I managed to struggle a single word from my mouth "D-d-dad?"

Primus smiled and nodded "It's good to see you again son."

**A/N: Hot damn, these chapters just keep getting longer and longer don't they? Anyway what did you think? I mean the end was kinda obvious wasn't it? The title of the story is son of Primus. But do you think I did a good job overall? Anyway, I plan to possibly update again tomorrow, and the next chapter will focus mainly on explaining why Primus is Jacks father, and better yet how as well as his and Unicron's connection to the gods and titans. Hope you enjoyed, and remember, review I can't get better if you don't tell me what's wrong. Oh before I forget, I may update this story tomorrow, or I may post a new story, as I am going to go see Man of Steel tomorrow and if past experience is anything to judge, it'll probably inspire me for another crossover. Chow.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Revelations

**Jack's POV:**

My mind raced as I stared at the figure who looked and sounded so much like the man I believed to be my father. But this couldn't be him, could it? My father, of all things, could not be Primus, a god of creation and life.

"No," I whispered loud enough only for the three of us to hear. "You're lying. Y-you have to be."

"Jack…" Primus began.

"No!" I shouted as I took a step back. "There is no way that you're my father."

"Jack, you know me. I know you," he said. "Why would I lie to my son?" He insisted taking a step towards me, arm outstretched. The others, even Mom, were frozen watching our exchange in shock.

"Stay away from me!" I screamed slapping his hand away. He looked at me, the sadness obvious in his eyes. I… this was too much. I needed to be alone, to think this through.

So I did the only thing my current mind set could think to do: I ran, hard and fast down the stairs, into the bowels of the base, ignoring the calls of my supposed father. "Jack!" he called. "Please let me explain."

I wouldn't listen, and slowly his pleas faded as I ran farther and farther into the base, searching for a place to hide, to hide from my father.

**Third Person POV:**

"Jack!" Primus called. "Jack please wait!" And he began to follow when Percy's arm shot in front of him, blocking his path.

"I wouldn't do that Primus," he stated coldly.

Primus looked at the young demigod. "And why is that, child of Poseidon?" he demanded.

Percy sighed before answering. "When I first found out I was the son of Poseidon, the shock nearly overwhelmed me. I was completely caught off guard and terrified of what it meant. Jack already knew you as his normal father for several years and is going to need some time to think this all out. Alone."

Primus nodded. "I understand. Still there is much I have to explain and little time to explain it. Could you and Annabeth retrieve my son so I may explain the reasons for my absence?"

The two demigods nodded and headed to the lower areas to search for Jack in the bowels of the base. A stunned silence followed their footsteps before a single voice pierced the air.

"ROBERT DARBY!" June screamed as she stomped towards the Cybertronian god who had whirled towards her in surprise when she called him by his human name.

"June I-" he was interrupted though, with a resounding slap, as June slapped him across the face. Primus and the others stared at her in shock.

"That's for abandoning me and Jack," she declared. She then grabbed him by the shirt and brought him for a deep kiss that lasted for several moments. When she broke off panting slightly, Primus eyed her "And that?" He asked.

"That was for coming back," she answered.

Primus shook his head. "Eons later and humans still manage to surprise me."

"Ugh, excuse me Primus, or, uh, Mr. Darby," Raf began.

Primus held up a hand. "Please Raf, you may call me Primus."

Raf nodded in understanding before continuing. "Are you really Jack's dad?"

Primus chuckled. "Of course I am child. I would not have said so simply to mess with the emotions of a teenager."

"B-but that shouldn't be possible!" Ratchet, who had been gawking silently at this point, screamed. "How could any Cybertronian, let alone our creator fall for a human, let alone interface with one and sire a human child?"

"Ratchet, I am the creator of an entire race of beings capable of changing their own forms," Primus explained. "I am more than capable of changing my form to suit any need."

"I-I but still," Ratchet said. "A human, how? Why?" he finished in disgust.

"I would prefer if you would not act as if the love I hold for my spark mate is a travesty of nature Ratchet," Primus growled, anger in his tone obvious for the first time since his arrival.

"Uh, what's a spark mate?" Miko asked in confusion.

Primus turned to her. "A spark mate is the Cybertronian equivalent of a spouse. However, we are far more deeply bonded on an emotional level, and even if one of the bonded die, we rarely, if ever, replace them, choosing to stay loyal to them until the day we die. In my case, as I am immortal, I shall never find another to replace June should she die."

There was a slight sparking noise, and they all turned to see Ratchet, slightly sparking, before his optics dimmed, and he fell flat on his back, offline.

"Is he going to be okay?" Fowler asked.

"He'll be fine," Primus assured them. "He simply glitched due to processor overload."

"Anyway," June said, ignoring the unconscious medic on the floor. "While I'm flattered Primus, don't think you're off the hook quiet yet, honey. You still have to explain why you left in the first place."

Primus winced slightly. "Of course, I promise when Jack has returned I will explain everything. For now all that I ask for is patience."

And so, they waited.

**Jack's POV:**

I sat, hidden in the Energon storage room, my hands grasping my head as thoughts raced through my head. Primus, the creator of all Cybertronians was my father. That…that couldn't be true, but no matter how much I tried to deny it, a small part of me kept whispering that it was true.

I now realized why the story concerning Unicron and Primus had seemed so familiar. Years ago, before dad had left, he used to tell me a story of how two powerful beings, one an agent of chaos, the other an agent of life, were locked in an intense struggle. They had fought for eons until the agent of life created thirteen angels that helped him cast out the chaos-bringer.

Primus had told me the story of how he beat Unicron, and I never knew, until today that is. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps entering the storage area.

"Jack," Annabeth called. "You in here?"

"Go away," I muttered.

"Jack, come on. Your dad wants to talk to you," I heard Percy say.

"He's not my father," I said, still in denial.

The two of them eventually found my hiding area between two Energon storage crates. They looked down at me expectantly.

I sighed. "Go ahead, say it."

Annabeth blinked at me in confusion. "Say what?" she asked.

"Don't play dumb with me," I growled. "Say how you were right. That my dad was a god, and that I am a demigod."

Annabeth took a deep breath. "No."

I looked up in surprise. "Excuse me?" I asked.

"You heard me, no," she stated. "Jack, this is far more serious than our little feud right now. I'm not going to taunt you about me being right because you're clearly upset over this."

"Besides," Percy said. "You're a lot luckier than most demigods."

"Oh really?" I asked in a sarcastic tone. "Please, enlighten me."

"Most demigods never get to meet their godly parents. Heck, I only got to meet my dad three times, and only for a few minutes. Your dad is a god on another planet and came all the way here to talk to you," he explained.

"But why lie to me?" I asked. "Why lie to me and Mom and abandon us for all those years?"

He shook his head. "I don't know Jack, and neither will you, if you keep moping in here." I looked up at him. "Now, how about you get off your butt and come say hello to your dad? You may not get another chance anytime soon."

He extended a hand. I looked at it blankly. I'd be lying if I wasn't a little scared to go and talk to my dad, but then I realized Percy was right. For years I had waited for Dad to come back, at first so that mom would be happy again, but as the years passed, I realized he wouldn't and that hope turned to bitterness. I began to imagine all the horrible things I would say to him, about how he abandoned us, how he hurt us, if I ever saw him again.

Now, I had a chance to talk to him, to tell him how much he hurt us, how much he hurt me, and to ask why. Why did he abandon us?

I took his hand and he pulled me to my feet. "Alrighty then," he said. "Ready to go talk to your dad?"

Before I could say a word, a sharp pain washed over me, starting in my head, and passing through my whole body. It felt as though someone had poured liquid metal into my veins, and I fell to my knees grasping my head in pain as I began screaming in agony.

"Oh my gods, Jack, are you all right?" Percy asked, as he and Annabeth bent down on their knees to see if there was anything wrong with me.

I didn't answer; just continued to scream in pain as it intensified, particularly in my head and eyes. I felt what I thought were hot tears drip from my eyes, as I clenched them shut in continued pain when I heard Annabeth scream. "Oh my gods, his eyes, they're bleeding."

I weakly opened my eyes, and to my horror, I saw she was right. My vision had been tinted red by the blood, and little droplets were falling onto the floor. Another wave of pain shot through me and I fell onto my side, still fighting it eyes clenched shut.

It was no use, the more I fought it, the worse the pain got. After several moments, I gave into the pain and pulled myself into a fetal position, silently whimpering as the pain continued to flow over my body.

"Hold on Jack. We'll get you to Ratchet and the others," I heard Percy say, but he sounded so far away. It was then I realized I was losing consciousness again. I didn't fight it this time. In fact, I embraced the sweet relief of unconsciousness.

**Third Person POV:**

The humans, Cybertronian god, and Ratchet all stood in the main floor of the base. Ratchet had onlined earlier and, after a quick explanation of events, had accepted the strange turn of events that were occurring.

They had waited in relative silence for the demigods and Jack to return. June had taken to standing in Primus's embrace, clearly happy that he had returned, even if only for a short while.

However, this peaceful silence was interrupted as they heard a voice. "Ratchet, Nurse Darby, get the med bay ready now!" Annabeth yelled.

They all turned to the voice to see Annabeth and Percy carrying Jack by his arms. Jack was unconscious but everyone could see the tears of blood that were streaking his face.

"Get him in the bay now," Ratchet ordered, motioning for them to set Jack on a human sized berth.

"What happened?" June asked as she looked over Jack, who she could now tell was trembling slightly, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

"I don't know," Percy answered. "We found him and convinced him to come back, but right as we were about to head back, he collapsed in pain and started bleeding through his eyes and screaming."

"It's begun," Primus whispered sadly.

Every one turned to the god with a look of confusion on their face. "You know what's wrong with our son Primus?" June asked.

Primus shook his head. "There is nothing wrong with him," he answered.

"Nothing wrong!" Annabeth yelled. "He was bleeding from his eyes! If that's not wrong I don't know what is!"

"Please Annabeth, calm yourself," Primus said motioning for her to calm. "Allow me to explain," he said.

Everyone looked at him with expectant looks on their faces. Primus sighed. "What is happening to Jack is a process I had hoped to warn him of before it began."

"What do you mean?" Raf asked.

"The process is Jack's other half, my half, beginning to influence his body," Primus explained "When he awakens from his coma, he shall not be human, but Cybertronian."

Everyone looked at him in shock. "Y-you're kidding right?" Annabeth asked.

"He's not," Ratchet answered. "I have just conducted a scan of Jacks body. Even as we speak, his internal organs are being replaced with that of a Cybertronian's."

June turned to Primus with a look of fury on her face. "You knew, didn't you!?" she accused, a guilty look crossing Primus's face. "How could you allow this to happen to my child, our child?!" she screamed.

"June-" Primus began, but she cut him off.

"Don't you June me mister! How can you expect our son to live an even remotely normal life as a Cybertronian!"

"He will be able to change forms," Primus blurted. Everyone stared at him in confusion.

"He will be able to change forms," Primus stated more calmly.

"What do you mean?" June asked, her fury having subsided, but the anger still evident in her voice.

"Jack's ability to become Cybertronian is only causing him pain now because it is his first transformation. With time he will learn to master it, and will be able to switch between the two forms with ease. Until then though, he will remain in a coma until he has become fully Cybertronian."

"Wait," Annabeth said. "You're a god. Can't you just change him now and spare him the pain?"

Primus shook his head sadly. "I wish I could, but doing so could cause irreparable harm to Jack, and possibly even kill him. Rest assured he will survive the change. It will simply take an hour or two."

"What do we do until then?" Raf asked.

Primus looked to the small boy. "For now, we wait."

**Jack's POV:**

After I had passed out, I had pretty much floated around in emptiness for what felt like an eternity but was likely just a few minutes. However, this quickly changed when a scene began appearing around me.

As I looked at the scene, I saw what looked like an ancient Greek camp in the middle of an open rock valley, but instead of humans wandering the tents. I saw various creatures and monsters, giants, snake women, huge dogs, even a few Cyclopes here and there.

Suddenly, my vision shifted to a large tent in the middle of the camp. Sitting inside the tent was single guy about college age with blonde hair and a nasty scar running down his face.

But his eyes, oh his eyes were the strangest part. They were a solid gold color, like my dad when he was in mech form. Instead of a warm gold though, they were a harsh cold gold that felt as if it would freeze anyone in their glare.

I didn't know who this guy was, but his whole appearance screamed 'I am a villain'. The flap of the tent moved as an odd human dog hybrid entered the tent

"Lord Kronos," It said. Wait, this was Kronos? For a Titan I expected him to be…taller.

"What is it?" he demanded in a voice nearly as cold and disturbing as Megatron's. Almost, not quite.

"Our forces will be ready to move on Camp Half-Blood in a half hour," the dog-man said.

"Good, and soon, the gods' precious heroes will be no more," the titan said, laughing maliciously as he did.

His laughter though, was cut short by the sound of collapsing stone. "What was that?" he demanded once more as he exited his tent.

My vision followed, and my blood ran cold at the sight. Standing in front of Kronos's tent in his 80 foot form, was Unicron, the Chaos-Bringer himself.

**"So," **he rumbled. **"You are the so called Titan Kronos. I must say, I am underwhelmed. Your reputation painted you as one much more…Intimidating."**

"You dare mock me, Kronos king of the Titans and soon to be ruler of this world once more!" he titan yelled at the giant figure. "And for that matter, what in the pits of Tarturus are you?"

Unicron chuckled. **"You find yourself worthy of declaring yourself king, when you owe your very existence to my influence."**

"What are you rambling about creature?" Kronos demanded.

**"Silence!"** Unicron bellowed, causing all the remaining monsters in the camp to freeze. **"I am Unicron, the chaos-bringer, the very being who constitutes this planet. You are merely an underling who will follow my will,"** he stated matter-of-factly.

"You dare order me? The lord of time!" he snarled as he drew a wicked looking scythe from his back.

"I take orders from no one." And with that, he charged at Unicron, despite the size difference. He leapt an astonishing height and slammed the scythe into the side of Unicron's helm. Unicron simply looked annoyed as the Titan lord hung there and lifted a servo that flicked the lord onto the ground.

**"Now, listen to me Kronos and listen well, for I shall not repeat myself. You are to head to this location."** He motioned, creating a world map on the floor with the base's location highlighted. **"Here you shall find the son of Primus. Destroy him with your army and I shall reward you with the destruction of the gods who block your path."**

Kronos smirked at him. "If you're so powerful why don't you do it?"

**"Foolish organic, I would not be enlisting your service if I could myself. Primus, my arch nemesis and opposite, has forbidden me from entering the area. That is why I am sending you. Understand!"** The Chaos-Bringer glared at the Titan lord until he finally nodded yes. ** "Good, and know this Kronos: should you fail I shall send upon you a force of pain so great that you will beg to be thrown back into the pits of Tarturus. Now move!"**

And with that my vision faded, and I slowly awoke from my mini coma. As I opened my eyes, I realized I was in the med bay. Percy and Annabeth must have dragged me in here when the pain set in.

I felt odd though, heavier, but at the same time light as well. I also had an awful headache and as I sat up, I put a hand to my head. But instead of feeling my usual mess of black hair, I felt… metal?

I brought my hands in front of me, expecting pink human flesh. My blood ran cold when instead I saw metal plating and wiring making up my hands…No servos and running up my arms. I looked down at the rest of my body and saw more of the metal plating and wiring.

At this point, I was starting to freak out. I needed to see my face. I needed to see that it was still human and that this was some sort of pain induced hallucination. I saw a tray of tools on a stand next to me and grabbed it, knocking the tools to the floor with a clatter, and brought the tray to my face.

I desperately hoped to see my normal human face, blue eyes, light tan, and black hair, but staring back at me was a silver Cybertronian faceplate with golden optics and a simple helm over my head. Given how I had apparently changed races and was in the middle of a panic attack venting rapidly, I did the only thing any sensible person would do in my situation. I screamed. Loudly.

**Third Person POV:**

Humans, Cybertronians, and Cybertronian gods were all assembled in the main room once more, awaiting the awakening of the soon to be Cybertronian Jack. They all had faces with a mix of worry on them at Jack's condition, none more apparent than Primus.

Primus felt incredible guilt for what he had put his son through in the past hour. While he had known he would not react calmly to discovering who he truly was, he didn't expect the initial reaction he had gotten either. Couple this with his reaction when he awoke, and Primus feared that he would never be given a chance to make amends with his son.

The group was shaken from their thought from the sound of clattering followed by a loud scream emanating from the med bay.

"That sounded like-" Annabeth started.

"Jack!" June yelled and was already down the stairs, closely followed by the remaining humans, as well as Primus and Ratchet. They all rushed into the med bay, and what they saw was not quite what they expected.

They had expected Jack to be Cybertronian, but they had expected him to be a little… Taller. That said, the mech sitting on the human size berth was a little over six and half feet tall, taller than any human in the base, but downright puny by Cybertronian standards.

"Dude you're puny," Miko stated, earning her a death glare from Primus and June.

Jack ignored her and continued staring at himself, ventilating heavily before asking. "What did you do to me!?"

Primus and the others quickly explained what happened to him and why. This seemed to calm the boy as he diverted his attention to his father. "How do I change back?"

"Jack its-" Primus began before jack cut him off.

"HOW DO I CHANGE BACK!?" he screamed, causing everyone but Primus to flinch. Jack always kept his cool and was never known for raising his voice.

The poor boy was trembling at this point, and Primus approached him, placing both hands on his shoulders and holding him still. "Jack," he stated sternly, but the boy continued trembling, having gotten lost in his thoughts.

"Jackson Darby," he repeated, which immediately caused him to snap his optics to Primus. Primus smiled slightly. When Jack was younger, calling him by his full name was the quickest way to get his attention. He was glad to see it still was.

"Jack, I know you're frightened and angry. I've revealed a lot to you in very short time. I know you're still mad that I abandoned you and that you've gone through this change," he gestured to his whole silver body when he said change. "But if you want to change back to your human form you have to calm down and trust me, okay?"

Jack nodded hesitantly before Primus continued. "Good. Now, in order to change back, you must completely calm yourself. Stray emotions, like anger, fear, or sadness, can cause your transformation to flux or fail to work. Now, take a deep breath." Jack inhaled deeply and exhaled.

"Okay," Jack said. "I'm calm. I'm calm."

"Good," Primus said before taking a step back. "Now let's start somewhere simple. Look at your servo."

Jack looked at his servo. "Good," Primus said. "Now imagine it as your human form and concentrate. It will take a moment, but it should begin to change."

Jack nodded again before focusing on his servo and grounding his denta together. Slowly, but surely, the silver metal and tubing began to shift and retract, slowly creating a human hand that merged into the Cybertronian arm.

Primus smiled. "Good, you have the basics down. Now, you need only do the same for the rest of your body, and it shall change as well."

Before Jack could start though, he was interrupted by Annabeth. "Uh, you might want to do that in the bathroom," she said.

"Why?" Jack asked. She pointed to the shredded clothes that were lying on the bed. It was then Jack realized that when he changed he must have torn his clothes apart. He was very thankful at that moment that Cybertronians didn't have any… unmentionables; otherwise this whole situation would be a lot worse.

"Good point," he said rubbing the back of his head. "Uh, Mom, you wouldn't happen to have a change of clothes, would you?" he asked.

June shook her head. "Car was destroyed by a tornado, remember?"

"Oh, right."

"Don't worry, Jack," Percy said. "I have some spares you can borrow."

"Thanks man," he said.

**Jacks POV:**

Luckily for me, Percy and I were about the same size. He was just slightly taller than me when I was human. The whole experience was… strange to say the least. Of course, it also made me wonder what Arcee, let alone the other bots, would think when they got back from the core.

I stared at myself in the mirror as the last of my Cybertronian parts melted into human skin…All except for my optics. They had human eyelids and eyelashes, but the same golden optics were staring back at me, whirring and clicking as they moved and focused.

I sighed. Seemed this was the only part of me that I couldn't change back. Would have to ask dad about that when I got back out. I put on the clothes Percy had lent me, blue jeans, an orange shirt and a pair of sneakers.

After I finished I walked back out into the main room, and everyone turned to look at me.

"Uh, Jack, you forgot to change your eyes back," Miko said, gesturing to her eyes at the same time.

"I tried to Miko, but they just won't no matter how hard I try," I replied.

"It would make sense," Dad said. "Cybertronian optics and human eyes are very finite sensory tools, changing them would be difficult. With time and practice, you may eventually learn to retract them, but for now you'll have to wear sunglasses or goggles in public."

I turned to Dad. "Moving on. Are you going to explain where you've been all these years and why you left?"

He sighed. "Yes Jack, after all you've been through in the past hour, it's the least I can do."

We all crowded closer to him, even Ratchet to hear what he had to say.

"Let's see," he said. "I guess I'll have to start with the formation of Earth."

**A/N: I originally planned to put Primus's exposition and the change in the same chapter, but decided to break it into two chapters. Next chapter we will learn of how Primus met June, how he and Unicron are linked to the human gods, and Jack will tell the others about his vision. Why hasn't he told them yet? Because he was busy freaking out over his sudden change in race. I will not be updating this story tomorrow. Instead, I will be posting my next story, a Superman/Transformers Prime crossover with, you guessed it, Jack as our unfortunate Kryptonian. I did get inspired by Man of Steel, and damn was it a good movie. I can't believe it took them over two decades to make another good Superman movie. Anyway, check it out when I post it tomorrow, and remember to review. Plot elements and questions are welcomed, though I would prefer if you PM'd me such ideas. See you guys later.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Explanations

**Jack's POV:**

We all gathered around my father, eager to know exactly why he'd come to Earth in the first place and why he'd left. More importantly, I wanted to know why he lied to us for all these years and why he decided to come back now of all times.

Primus had his arms crossed and tapped his chin in a human like matter. I guess since he was technically in a human form it made sense, but still; after his display of all mighty power in front of us, it was odd to see.

"Let's see," he said, his voice wandering as he thought. "I guess for you to understand why I came and left, I'd have to start with the origin of Earth and its inhabitants," he said.

Several of us, myself included, nodded in agreement. After finding out the Greek gods were real and that Unicron made up our home, it would only make sense that my dad explained this to us as soon as possible.

"Well, as my disciple Optimus already explained, Unicron and I fought each other for millennia in a vicious tug of war that damaged our shared home of Cybertron in ways the Great War could never achieve," he said, though his voice was saddened at the mention of the war.

"Our conflict ended when I created The Thirteen to help me in the battle, and Unicron was cast from our world forever," Primus said. "I knew, though, that being immortal and as powerful as me, that he would not stay gone forever, so I devoted a small part of myself to watching my slumbering foe in case he ever returned," he explained.

"As you've probably figured out, he never did," he said, slightly sarcastically. "Though when a planet began to form around him, I became more curious than ever before. I wondered what form of life, if any could form around the chaos-bringer, would evolve and what the effects of his influence would have on the population," Primus said.

We all continued to listen with rabid fascination at his tale. I'll admit; I wanted to know what happened, even if I had a feeling I already knew. Still, the way Primus told it, it was like listening to the tale for the first time. Maybe that was the advantage of being a god: everything you say sounds interesting.

"At first, the effects were…expected," he stated. "The world was a chaotic mess, with nothing but violent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions dotting the planet. Needless to say, I lost interest in watching in earnest when something..." he paused, thinking to himself.

"When something…unexpected happened," he said, "Life emerged from the chaos, but not life in the sense that I knew of. Organic life, the rarest form of life emerged, simple creatures driven by base instincts," he explained, "but life nonetheless,"

He frowned as he continued. "I was fascinated by this development, this…formation of life from chaos and studied these creatures in earnest, from a far of course," he quickly added.

"I was disappointed to see that the animals seemed to live in chaos, killing and fighting whatever they came across with no signs of intelligent thought. No signs of order…Or so I thought," he said cryptically.

"What do you mean 'or so you thought'?" Annabeth asked.

"What I had mistaken for disorder, was in fact, a complex system, a complex order, which kept the chaos in check. Certain animals changed and adapted to changes in the environment," he explained. "Fast forward through several million years of change, and I saw the first true signs of not just natural order, but intelligence, in a race of beings," he said, before his eyes flicked over the humans.

"Humanity emerged from the chaos and soon began to tame it, control it, and conquer it," he said, with a hint of pride. "But they were violent," he continued, the pride dissipating. "Feuding and fighting over basic things, and I realized that if I didn't interfere, an intelligent race would wipe itself out," he said.

"What did you do?" I asked, wondering what my father had done to us.

"I helped filter the worst of humanity's traits, tried to amplify the good to weigh out the bad. Understand that I never actual gave humanity these traits, your race has always possessed the capacity for great kindness and great innovation," Primus said.

"But your capacity for war has always been you strongest," he added, a sad look on his face.

"With this though, I saw the rise of ancient civilization, and with it, a development I did not expect," he said and I had a feeling I knew what was coming. "Whether he knew it or not, several humans unintentionally fed off the power of Unicron and slowly changed into the beings known as the Titans, the first being Gaia," he said, an angry look on his face. Obviously Tad did not like the Titans.

"The Titans not only inherited great power from the Chaos Bringer, but their own need for power, for chaos was greatly enhanced," he explained. "I was forced to watch in horror as the Titans undid everything humanity strove for, destroyed the light of civilization," he said, his voice growing darker.

"I was convinced at that point that no race could survive amongst the influence of Unicron, that any civilization would fall into chaos," he said and the rest of us looked at him sadly. I know I said that I was angry with him, but…He saw the birth and near death of an entire race and wasn't able to do anything about it.

"Until, that is, the wife of Kronos stole away Zeus from his father," he said, and I noticed Percy and Annabeth's heads perk up at this.

"Of course," she said, "that was how the war with the Titans was started. Zeus freed the others and declared war on the Titans," she said.

Dad nodded. "Yes, it is. However, despite their claims, the Gods were outclassed. Their powers were not as great as those of the titans," he said.

"Why not?" Percy asked. "They should have been just as powerful right?"

Dad shook his head. "I fear not Percy. For you see, the power that the Titans gained was from Gaia, and each generation was progressively weaker than the previous," he explained.

"The gods had incredible power, make no mistake, but the Titans did not need to fear them, so I decided to…tip the war in their favor by creating something that would help the gods greatly," he said.

"The Ophiotaurus!" Annabeth exclaimed.

"The ophio what now?" Miko asked.

"The Ophiotaurus, it's what gave the gods the edge in winning the war with the Titans," Annabeth explained before she became wide-eyed and turned to Primus. "You created it?"

"Not quiet," he admitted. "The creature already existed. I, however, transferred a small amount of the Titans' powers into the creature, and whichever side used it would gain the powers," Dad explained.

We all looked at him, impressed by this. I had to admit that was a clever plan he pulled off, when a thought occurred in my mind. "Exactly _how_ did you do this?" I asked.

Dad gave me a 'really?' look before explaining. "While the Titans and gods are incredibly powerful, I have been around for far longer, as has Unicron. In fact, the powers of the Titans and gods are tied to Unicron, and if he fully awakens, not only will the Earth be destroyed-"

"But the gods will lose their powers!" Percy finished.

Primus nodded. "Indeed, our people's history is more intertwined than you would think. Even the gods themselves are modeled after the original thirteen primes," he said. We all gave him a confused look and he elaborated.

"After the Titan War, I instilled small pieces, virtues of the Primes I originally created, into the gods. This has been what's kept them more or less selfless in their actions, though I use the term loosely," Primus said.

Percy and Annabeth raised a brow. "That supposed to mean something?" Percy asked threateningly. I turned and gave Percy a warning look. This was both the creator of the Cybertronians and my father he was talking to. He'd best tread carefully.

Primus ignored the threatening tone and explained. "While the gods have done a good job of keeping your race from falling into complete chaos, they have… disappointed me," he said. The two demigods glared at my father in anger.

"And what gives you the right to judge our parents when you have let your own people suffer a war that destroyed their home!" Percy yelled, and almost immediately the room fell silent. Percy had a look of fear on his face, and I had a feeling he was trying not to flee in fear.

Primus glared at Percy, power and anger radiating off him in waves. "My children have suffered greatly _child,_" he said angrily, and I shivered. Dad had used this tone on me once, and it was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life.

"I did all I could to ensure their survival, but, like your own gods, I am forbidden from interfering directly," he stated, his tone becoming an even anger. "But at least I do not punish them by turning them into spiders, or cursing them with horrific appearances, or by cheating on the ones I love," he said, and Percy and Annabeth bowed their heads as he continued.

"At least I do not torture those who cannot fight back for simply existing, and at least I don't kill entire hotels of people just because I fear a prophecy," he snarled, and we looked at him in shock. When did the gods do this?

I turned to Annabeth and Percy who looked just as confused. "What are you talking about?" Percy asked.

"Something that shall be revealed to you in due time Percy," my dad replied, having calmed down now. "My point is the gods have made many, many mistakes, and when the time comes I will tell them of these mistakes," he said.

We looked at him warily before he continued. "But that is beside the point. There is another detail, one I have been building up to," he said and looked to me.

I braced myself as he explained why he'd come to Earth in the first place. "Since the end of the Titan War, I watched humanity in interest, eager to see what they would do…Until the Great War began," he said.

"When the war began, I focused on watching and protecting my children to the best of my abilities, but even so, the war…it was too much, and even my powers, my abilities were not enough to protect them, and so I was forced to fall into stasis, much like Unicron currently is," Dad explained.

"But if you are asleep," Raf asked. "How are you here?"

Primus smiled. "Because Rafael, I am omnipotent. I can do and be in many places at once, appearing on Earth and protecting my son from Unicron in his weakened state requires little power," he said.

"If that's the case, why did you come to Earth?" I asked, hearing my…optics whir and click as I narrowed them. "Why did you leave us?" I asked.

A sad look crossed over Primus's face. "I came to Earth because with the war over, I could return some of my attention to Earth. The changes I saw were…shocking to say the least," he said. It made sense; the last he'd seen of human history had been of Greek city-states and the like. It was a pretty big leap for him to see.

"I decided to come to Earth, to see the true extent of the change, to see if the good I had sensed in humanity millennia ago still existed," he smiled slightly.

"But why come here? Why not just observe from Cybertron?" I asked.

Primus shrugged. "I learned that firsthand experience allows for a more definitive learning experience, that seeing how others react to you allows for a better result," he explained.

"So it was an experiment?" Ratchet asked, speaking for the first time since dad had started talking.

I narrowed my optics further at him, warning him to tread carefully. "Initially," he said, "but that changed when I met June," he said looking to mom with a loving look. I rolled my optics as Mom returned it. I was not as forgiving as Mom was. Though…it was nice to see her happy.

"After I met your mother, I realized I had fallen in love with her, so I adapted an alias and created a life for myself on Earth so I could be with her," he explained.

"Eventually we married, and you were born," he said, with a hint of pride. "But…in my time on Earth, I had nearly forgotten, nearly abandoned my people," he said sadly.

"I would have forgotten had it not been for one single event," he said.

I glared at him. "And that would be?" I asked angrily. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked to see Raf. He pointed at my hand. and I looked to see metal plating and wiring forming over it again. I shoved it under my other arm and focused, feeling the Cybertronian side of me disappear. Apparently Dad wasn't kidding when he warned that my powers were in flux.

"I left because of them," Primus said, pointing to Ratchet.

"Us!?" Ratchet demanded. "Why would you leave because of the Autobots?" he asked.

"Because," Dad explained, "the matrix would have reacted to my presence, given the time, and drawn Optimus to me…and with him the Decepticons in tow." He looked back at me and Mom.

"I couldn't let that happen to you. I wouldn't let it happen to you. You are both far too important for me to lose…So I left, I left to try and protect you from the war that followed." He bowed his head in shame.

"It appears that that was not enough though," he admitted, and I felt my gaze soften.

He looked back up at me. "Jack, I know you are angry with me, and you have every right to be, but all I ask for is for your forgiveness," he said.

I looked at him with a bit of anger, sympathy, and other emotions I couldn't name. He'd left us, abandoned me and Mom without so much as a good bye. He'd caused us emotional pain and was responsible for me being a half human freak! But he did it to protect us, because he loved us. Maybe…maybe I couldn't forgive him, but I could understand why he did it.

"I can't forgive you for leaving us Dad," I said, and he bowed his head. "But I understand why you left us, and I'm willing to start over," I said.

Primus lifted his head and smiled. "That is all I could ask for," he said, before another sad look crossed his face. "I fear, though, I must return to Cybertron, as the Autobots shall return soon," he said. "But I won't stay gone forever. I promise I shall return on your seventeenth birthday, my son," he said with a smile.

I just nodded. There wasn't really much else to say. Primus smiled again. "Oh, I almost forgot. I have something for you!" he exclaimed and held out his hand.

There was a bright flash, and we all covered our eyes and optics. When the light died down, I pulled my arm away from my eyes to see what was in his hand. It was a small cylinder, about half a foot long and slightly thicker than Riptide's pen form. It was made of a silvery metal of sorts and rested on top of Primus's palm.

I looked at the object curiously before Primus spoke. "Well, don't just stand there. Take it. It was made for you," he said.

I carefully lifted the cylinder out of his hand and gasped as it suddenly began to shift. Metal plating grew out of the blade and began shifting and twisting forming into…something. The process lasted only about a second and a half, and when it was finished, I was holding a sword in my hand.

It was about three and a half feet long, a good foot longer than Percy's sword, and the differences only grew from there. It resembled Optimus' blade, in that it was sharpened and curved on one side, but flat on the other. It resembled the overall shape of his blade as well, with several pieces of metal extending from the hilt. It was made of a beautiful silvery white metal with blue highlights scattered amongst the metal.

It felt perfectly balanced in my hands, and I saw my face reflecting off the surface of the blade. The blade was so perfectly smooth and crafted that the image showed no signs of distortion in the slightest. In fact, it was one of the most beautifully crafted blades I'd ever seen.

Mom, however, did not see that. "A sword? You come back years later, and give our son a sword?" she demanded.

Primus smiled while I examined the blade. "Its name, is Animam Ore," he said. "It means soul edge in Latin," he said, and I looked to him curiously.

"It taps into your very spark, and in time will allow you to control your powers as you discover them," he said. "Be careful as well. that blade is nearly as powerful as the star saber itself. I had Solus Prime forge the blade," he said. All of looked at him confused, except Ratchet, who only gasped in surprise.

"The Solus Prime, the inventor and builder of The Thirteen!?" he asked, his voice surprisingly giddy. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think Ratchet was going fan boy.

"The very same," he said, smiling at the medic's giddiness. He turned to me and Mom "I gave you the blade because you will soon find that you will be serving in a conflict that will decide the fate of both your people, my son," he said.

"What do you mean?" I asked, a little unnerved by this whole situation now.

He looked at Percy and Annabeth. "They know," he said cryptically.

I opened my mouth to ask what he meant, but he raised his hand. "I fear my time is up, my son. I must leave, but don't worry, I shall return as promised," he turned to Ratchet. "The Autobots however shall need you in the coming days, your brother especially," he said.

I looked at him in shock. "A-a brother!?" I demanded.

"Optimus, of course. He is your brother, as are all who bear the name of Prime, as they are truly my descendants," he said. I stumbled back placing a hand to my head. This was all too much for me to take. I mean, it's one thing to find out that my dad was a god; it's another finding out that _the _Optimus Prime was my brother. Granted he was my _much _older brother, but a brother nonetheless.

"It is why he gave you the key to Vector Sigma in the first place Jackson," Dad said as a light began to shine around him. "It will be essential to restoring the last of the Primes," he warned.

"Oh, one more thing before I go," he said and turned to face Fowler, who looked absolutely stunned by this whole series of events. I wouldn't blame him. I was still getting over it.

"Fowler, if I ever catch you hitting on my wife again, I will turn you into a toaster," he threatened. Fowler nodded hurriedly, and in a bright flash of light, Primus, my father was gone.

We all stood quietly, unsure of what to make of the events that just occurred. Heck, I was just trying to decide if any of what I just saw was real, but Ore Animam was still in my hand. I looked at the blade and watched as the blade shrank and folded into the same silvery cylinder from before. Shrugging, I slipped it into my pocket, it was the best place for it right now.

I then noticed Ratchet staring at me. "What?" I asked.

"Optimus gave you the key to Vector Sigma?" he asked.

I shrugged and pulled the key out of my pocket. Before I changed to human form I grabbed the key and had brought it with me to the bathroom before slipping it into my other pocket.

"I don't know exactly what it is, but Optimus said it was supposed to be the key to the ground bridge power supply," I admitted.

"Jack, there is no key to the ground bridge power supply…The key to Vector Sigma is one of Cybertron's most important relics," he said. I looked at the key in my hand, dumbfounded. Optimus had entrusted _me_ with something so important? Why me? He didn't know I was the son of Primus, he couldn't have.

"I…I shouldn't have this then," I said and tried giving it to the medic, who backed away, shaking his head.

"Optimus entrusted it to you, Jack," he explained.

I pulled it back and looked at it. "B-But that doesn't make any sense_…w-why_?" I asked. "Optimus couldn't have known who my father was, so why give me such an important relic?" I had a feeling I already knew the answer though.

"Because he doesn't plan on coming back," Ratchet said softly. The entire room grew silent at this revelation. I had a feeling Optimus knew what draining the Matrix would do, and now the words of my father made sense. This key had to be how they would bring him back. Question was how?

Before anyone could voice this though, the terminal beeped, and I saw that the Autobot signals came back online. The base rocked as we all cheered in victory. This meant that Optimus succeeded. Earth was safe…For now.

_"Ratchet…send us a ground bridge…please?"_ Arcee's voice came over the com link.

The medic walked over to the controls and pulled them down, starting the ground bridge. The green portal swirled to life. Miko, Raf, and I waited eagerly for the others to walk through when a thought occurred to me.

"Wait, guys what are we going to tell the others about all of this?" I said, pointing to my golden optics.

Everyone looked amongst each other before Mom spoke. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it honey. For now, we should wait 'til they ask," she said. I nodded. Last thing we needed was to overwhelm the Bots, especially if…I shook my head. there was no way Optimus was dead. It just couldn't be.

I turned as footsteps echoed through the portal, and Team Prime walked out of the bridge. Ratchet closed it behind them, and Raf and Miko ran up to greet Bee and Bulkhead. I smiled at Arcee, and she returned it, too far to see my optics…yet.

"I was worried Bulk!" Miko cried in relief.

"You alright 'Bee?" Raf asked.

I looked around, trying not to let my optics become noticeable and noticed someone was missing. Ratchet noticed too and stepped forward with worry.

"And Optimus?" he asked. "Is he…"

"Dead?" Arcee said sadly. "No."

"But he looked right at us without recognizing us," Bulkhead said, confused. "Didn't even know his own name…"

"Hmm," Ratchet started. "When Optimus surrendered the Matrix of Leadership…He lost more than the collective wisdom of the Prime…He lost his own memories…"

We all fell silent at this, and I cast my optics down. If Optimus was no longer Optimus, but Orion Pax… there was no telling what Megatron would do to the archivist. What he would do to my…Brother.

As if to add to the already depressing moment, Arcee chose that exact moment to notice my optics. "Jack!" she cried in worry and approached me. I was still standing on the platform overlooking them, but her helm was just slightly at eye level.

I sighed as my partner approached and looked forward. I knew this was going to come eventually, better sooner than later. Arcee narrowed her own optics at my face, and a look of horror and shock swept across her faceplate.

"What happened to your eyes!?" she demanded in worry. That was Arcee, two parts partner, one part helicopter mom. That was one thing she and Mom had in common: They knew how to worry over everything.

"What do you mean what's wrong with his…Wwhoa!" Bulkhead said as he walked next to my partner. "Jack what happened?"

I laughed nervously. "Funny you should mention that…" I said. The three looked at me with expectant looks.

I sighed at this. "You might want to sit down. This will take a while to explain," I said.

About a half hour later, the three were staring at me and Mom in shock. Well, I think it was shock. Bulkhead looked like his jaw was about to fall off, Bee was lying on the floor glitching, and Arcee looked at me with disbelief.

"Jack… How do we know you're telling the truth?" she asked.

I sighed and concentrated on my head, feeling the wiring and metal moving into place. When I opened my optics, I had a Cybertronian head and neck on a human body. The expressions on their faces…were priceless. Bulkhead's jaw actually fell off, revealing it was actually a cover for his real mouth, and Arcee's mouth fell open.

"S-so your f-father is…our creator?" she asked, being the only conscious bot in the base, minus Ratchet.

I nodded. "He is, and trust me; it's just as shocking to me," I admitted as I returned my head to normal…minus my eyes. After that, we helped the others recover and returned to discussing what happened with Optimus.

"I'm still not following," Fowler said.

"When Optimus surrendered the Matrix," Ratchet sighed, "he lost more than just the collective wisdom of the Primes…He lost himself."

"That doesn't follow," Arcee protested. "Optimus _knew_ Megatron."

"They were like BFFs," Bulkhead supplied.

"If Optimus did not remember his own name…" Ratchet started, "perhaps it is because the title of _Prime_ hasn't yet been granted to him."

"Huh?" Fowler asked.

"What?" I demanded.

"Say again?" Miko asked.

"With the power of the Matrix no longer within him," Ratchet said, "It would stand to reason that Optimus has _reverted_ to his Pre-Prime state…the historical archivist…Orion Pax."

"You mean…in his mind," Mom said. It made sense if you thought about it.

"Are you telling me Prime thinks he's some kind of _librarian_!?" Fowler shouted, "_a__nd_ a Decepticon?" I glared at the agent, and he shrank back slightly. Apparently my optics were more intimidating than I thought. That or the agent was simply afraid my dad would make good on his threat if he said too many things about my family.

"Being a Decepticon is a choice, Agent Fowler," Ratchet said. "One that I have a hard time believing Optimus would make at _any_ point in his life."

"So, if he's riding with the 'Cons…" Bulkhead said.

"It's because Megatron's working some kind of voodoo," Arcee growled.

"Orion Pax may not currently be an Autobot in here," Ratchet said, pointing to his helm, "but I must believe he will never stop being one…in…here," he placed a shaky servo on his spark, his voice cracking.

"We _must_ locate him, to know for certain," he said.

"Hold up!" Fowler protested. "I have a chip lodged in my behind that lets Uncle Sam know when I stop for doughnuts. Are you telling me that you can't just track Prime?" We all grimaced at that mental image. Seriously Fowler, tact, has anyone taught you it?

"Optimus' signal has not reappeared since he embarked for Earth's core," Ratchet said, "but we _must_ get to work finding him if we are to have any hope of initiating his contingency plan."

It was the Autobots' turn to look confused. "Contingency plan?" Arcee asked.

"What contingency?" Bulkhead questioned.

"Is that even a word?" Miko demanded.

Contingency…Optimus guessed this might happen. So what did he do to…

"The Key Card!" I exclaimed, the light flicking on as I held it up.

All eyes and optics trained on me. "So…what's it do?" I asked.

"It grants access to Vector Sigma," Ratchet said softly. "The repository of the wisdom of the Primes."

"Is that some sort of super computer?" Raf piped up.

"So…we can just download Optimus' memories back into him?" I asked, excitement building in me. "Great! Which one's the Big V? Over here? Somewhere in the back?" I asked, looking at the many computer terminals.

Ratchet shook his helm. "Vector Sigma is more than a supercomputer, Jack," he whispered. "It is an ancient source of mystical power…"

I stared at the Key as it flickered in my hand. I had a feeling I knew where this was going.

"On…Cybertron," Ratchet finished.

My head snapped up. This…was not good. The Autobots had no way of getting up there.

"We've got to get the memories back…" I said. "We need to get there…fast."

Mom…didn't take that well. "Jackson Darby," she growled, pointing a finger at my chest, "you will _not_ be going to another planet!"

"I'm in!" Miko piped up.

"You're not going either, Miko!" Mom snapped, turning her icy gaze on the Autobots. "Not when one of _you_ can."

"June's right," Fowler said. "Why send a boy to do a Bot's job?"

"Because only a Prime can access Vector Sigma…or one _chosen_ by a Prime," Ratchet explained. "Optimus gave the Key card to Jack. It is now imprinted with his own unique bio-signature."

"So you mean _Jack's_ like some honorary Prime?" Miko asked.

My eyes widened. Me? A _Prime_? I might be the son of Primus, but that didn't make me Prime material.

"Let's just say that Jack is the only one who can return Optimus to the Autobot we knew," Ratchet said.

"But why would Optimus _willfully_ endanger a human?" June demanded. "A _child_!"

I looked up to the ceiling and then back to my mother. I hated it when she called me that

"A…but…I'm _not_ a child, Mom!" I cried.

"Maybe Optimus believed there was more to Jack than meets the eye?" Arcee said helpfully. In a way she was right, though I doubt that would change Mom's mind.

"All of which is moot," Ratchet said. "The Key card is _useless_ without the means of _reaching_ Cybertron…which we at present do not possess."

"Dude," Miko groaned, pointing at the ground bridge. "What about that?"

"Miko," Raf said, "the ground bridge barely got them into Earth's orbit…remember?"

"Yeah!" she said, "But Ratchet built it…can't you just turbo-charge the thing?"

The CMO paused, his optics glinted with a spark of intrigue. I had a feeling I knew where he was going with this. Question was would it work?

"Hey wait a minute," Bulkhead said, and we all turned to him. "If Jack here is the son of Primus, why not have him bring you to Cybertron?" he asked.

"Because, his powers are weak enough as it is, and Cybertron is a _long_ ways away," I said. "Besides, how would we contact him?" I asked.

Bulkhead's optics lowered in disappointment. "Right, guess I should have thought that through," he said.

"Regardless," Ratchet started, "we have much work to do, and little time to do it in," he said.

"I suggest we send the others home," he said and turned to the bridge.

"Uh, were are we supposed to stay?" Percy asked. Oh, right, I almost forgot about them in all the drama.

"You'll stay with us," Mom said sternly. "I'll need a lift though. My car is still a wreck on the side of the road."

"No problem," Bulkhead said. "Just hop on in. I'll follow Arcee and Jack to your place," he said as he transformed. We all nodded and made our way to our respective guardians and made our way home. Right now, home sounded like a good place to be…

**A/N: Well, I bet none of you expected this? I don't know when the next update will be, but I promise you this, with Another Type of Alien nearing the end, a lot of my other fics will start receiving rapid updates. In fact, the reason I updated this one, was because Elhini and I were simply unable to communicate so I decided I made you guys wait long enough. Anyway, let me know what you think of my explanation for why Primus left and the name of Jack's sword. If you have a better name, let me know. Anyway, review with critique or PM me with plot based ideas or questions. Bye!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Voices

**Jack's POV:**

I rode on Arcee, silent as we approached my house in the Jasper suburbs. It was a quiet neighborhood and, despite the earthquakes and storms we'd been hearing about only a few hours earlier, was completely peaceful. In fact, it almost seemed as if Jasper suffered almost no damage, and I felt a smile tug on my lips.

Jasper was my home, and even if I didn't like all aspects of it, it was where I was born and raised. Seeing it still standing warmed my heart…er, spark, I guess. That's going to take some getting used to. Anyway, we pulled into the drive way, Arcee and I pulling into the garage.

Bulkhead stopped by the curb and opened his door, letting Percy and the others pile out. Percy turned to the Bot and thanked him for the ride before walking up the drive way into the garage. Mom and the others walked up to the garage while I got off Arcee and took my helmet off.

"So this is where you live?" Percy asked, walking up.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" I replied, setting the silver grey helmet on the table.

"Just asking. I live in an apartment in New York," he said.

"Never been anywhere outside of Jasper," I admitted. "Unless you count the excursions with the bots," I finished.

"What excursions?" Mom asked, standing at the door way.

Uh oh. "Nothing Mom!" I answered quickly, getting a chuckle out of the other three.

"Right," she said before gesturing for us to come on in. "We'll find a place for you three to sleep," she said as we all walked in.

Now, my house is a very nice house, but I'll be the first to admit it was _not_ designed to hold three demigods and a satyr comfortably. It was a three bedroom house, though the third bedroom was a tiny room with only a bed and a window, with two bathrooms. One was in the hall connecting all three bedrooms together, and the second you could only reach by going through my room.

"I assume Annabeth will take the guest room?" Mom asked.

Percy and Grover nodded. "Good, then you two can sleep on the couch in the living room," she said.

"I've slept in worse places," Percy said. I had a feeling he wasn't exactly lying.

The two made themselves comfortable in our living room while Mom showed Annabeth to the guest room. I leaned against the kitchen counter, thinking over the events that had happened today. Raf had almost died, we found out Greek gods are real, Unicron is responsible for their existence, and I am the son of Primus. All in all, a very weird day, even for me.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Annabeth asked as she came back from Mom's little tour.

"Not a lot to talk about," I answered. "You all saw what happened today. Turns out you were right; I am a demigod," I admitted.

"True," Annabeth started, "by the way, I told you so," she said.

I raised a brow at her but decided to ignore the comment. "Point is I'm trying to get used to this," I said, pointing to my optics.

"To be fair, this is shocking for us too. We just found out everything we thought we knew about Earth was a lie," Percy said from the couch.

I nodded ."Yeah, makes sense, but at least you're still human," I pointed out. "I'm only half human." I looked at my hand and willed the change. It was getting easier, but watching my flesh be replaced with metal and wiring… It was unnerving to watch.

The three looked at my servo. "Does it…hurt…when you do that?" Annabeth asked.

"At first it did, but it's already becoming easier," I admitted. "What scares me is that I feel almost more comfortable when I change parts of myself Cybertronian. What if I change fully…and I can't change back?" I asked to no one in particular.

The three looked between themselves, likely trying to come up with some way to comfort me. An impossible task if ever there was one. I sighed and straightened up.

"I'm going to be in my room if you need me," I announced and headed to my room, shifting my hand back to normal. I sighed as I closed the door behind me and made my way to the bathroom. A nice long shower sounded good about now.

I stripped off my clothes and stepped in, letting the water wash away the filth from today. I almost immediately noticed that my optics weren't as sensitive as my old eyes, the water just plinked off them harmlessly, blurring my vision but nothing else. Odd but useful if the situation calls for something like that.

After the shower, I quickly dried off and wrapped a towel around my waist, getting ready to change when I stopped in front of the mirror. I looked at myself and shuddered slightly at the golden optics staring back at me. It was just so…odd to see. I was used to my blue human eyes.

But then, maybe it was only so unnerving because I was in human form. Maybe as a Cybertronian…I closed my eyes and focused. I hadn't assumed the form since it first came on, and I grit my teeth as I changed.

Skin was replaced with plating, my vertebrate popped as I grew several inches taller, and my internal organs began to make an odd squishing noise as I changed. I opened my optics with a gasp as I finished the change. I placed my servos on the counter, panting slightly. Changing race took a lot of energy.

I looked up at the mirror and examined my Cybertronian body in detail for the first time. My upper body was much broader than before, similar to Optimus' upper body. My form grew slimmer as I looked at my waists. I noticed though, that unlike any of the bots, my body was just a shining, the only color coming from my optics. I didn't seem to have any colored armor.

_Protoform…_The word was just whispered through my mind, and I knew what it was. The protoform was the underbody of a Cybertronian, what they looked like without any armor or vehicle mode. I blushed violently as I realized I had been naked in front of everyone, they just didn't know it.

I shook myself and continued to examine this new body. Most of the plating was smoothly seamed together, barely exposing any of my inner workings. Only my joints exposed any of the wiring, and my neck had several thicker wires and tubes running into my helm. Likely Energon tubing.

I reached up and ran a servo along one of said tubes, and shivered at the sensitivity I felt. I didn't know the Bots felt so sensitive on their more exposed regions. The feedback I got from that touch was nearly overwhelming.

I examined my face…plate, and saw some similarities to the other bots. Like my upper body, my faceplate was wider at the top, and grew thinner as it trailed down into my chin. I ran my servos over the smooth metal that made up my face and found it was strangely sensitive as well. Unlike Ratchet, Bulkhead, or Bumblebee, though, I didn't have any lines running across my faceplate, it was odd.

"Well, I think it makes you look adorable," a strong, feminine voice suddenly said.

I whirled around, looking for the source of the voice. "Who's there?" I demanded and noticed a metallic accent to my voice, just like the Autobots.

"I did," the voice said, and I looked around, only to freeze as I looked in the mirror. Standing behind me was a Cybertronian femme. She had a strong powerful look to her and a slightly thicker body than Arcee. Her arms in particular appeared almost muscled, for a Cybertronian. Wiring flowed from the back of her head, tied up at the end to keep them from fraying.

Her armor covered her entire body minus her faceplate. It was a deep blue, almost black, with silver highlights. Her optics were a royal blue color, and her lips were beep blue as well. She had a massive hammer resting lightly on her shoulder, larger than Breakdowns. The hammer was intricately designed and colored a bright gold. Either end was colored silver, offsetting the color.

I turned around, and saw that no one was the there. The femme giggled as I turned back to look at her. "How are you…" I started and she interrupted me.

"Apologies, little brother. I am Solus Prime," she said with a gracious bow, "Crafter and Inventor of the Thirteen," she proclaimed.

"Wait, Solus Prime, the one who crafted my sword?" I asked.

She beamed proudly "Ah yes, I remember when our creator asked me to forge that blade, not my most difficult task, but certainly an interesting task," she said.

"You're a girl?" I asked in disbelief. Both her name and job description suggested she'd be a mech.

Solus arched an optic ridge at me and set her hammer down with a thud, placing a servo on her hip. "Of course I'm a femme, you didn't think our creator would fight the chaos-bringer with just a bunch of mechs do you? He needed a femme's touch to get the job done," she said.

"Please forgive Solus, brother. She can be a tad eccentric at times," another male voice said. Another mech appeared behind me in the mirror. He was dressed in what looked like ancient armor, with large shoulder pads, and a thick metal like cape on his back.

"W-who are you?" I asked, starting to freak out.

"Vector Prime, controller of space and time," he said.

I reacted to this revelation with what I think was a pretty good reaction. "Am I going crazy?"

Solus giggled again, "No little brother, you're not going crazy. We are simply taking up the extra space in your mind," she explained.

Vector must have seen the terrified expression on my faceplate and elaborated on the bubbly Prime's explanation. "What our sister means to say is that our creator, Primus, has ordered the remaining Thirteen to guide you through the coming days," he said.

I looked at Vector. "So I'm going to have thirteen voices in my head trying to talk to me?" I asked.

"Silly mech," Solus said, regaining my attention. "We're going to swap out, two at a time, some days you might have Prima and Liege Maximo, and some days you might have Alpha Trion and Micronus Prime," she said. "And if you're lucky, you'll get Vector and me!" she squealed.

I looked back at Vector. "Is she always this…" I wasn't sure what word I could use to describe my… half sister I guess. Weird, the thirteen Primes are my siblings. Mom's going to freak.

"Bubbly, yes," Vector said, massaging his temples. "Point is, you'll have different pairs of us helping you when the situation demands it," he said.

"Why?" I asked. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but I can handle things by myself," I said.

"Baby brother," Solus said, her voice still chipper as ever. "You're still a youngling, barely past your sparkling stage. You have a ways to go before you won't need our guidance," she said. I had a weird feeling that if she could, Solus would be pinching my cheeks, something about the way she talked gave me that feeling.

"Great," I said throwing my servos in the air. "Now I have voices in my head, as if this situation wasn't weird enough. Everyone'll think I'm crazy with you two talking to me," I said.

Solus rolled her optics and opened her mouth to speak, when Vector raised his servo. "Sister, our young brother has had enough today. Let him relax. He needs time to recharge," he said.

He then turned to me. "Jackson, you don't need to speak aloud to interact with us, merely think it, and we will be able to hear it," he said.

"I…that actually makes sense," I said.

Solus nodded. "Of course it does. A Prime said it, so it must be true," she said, breaking into another giggling fit.

Vector sighed. "Perhaps it would be best if you assumed your human form and rested, the following days will be difficult," he said.

I nodded and returned to my human form, wincing slightly at the pains of changing back. I was about to change, when a thought occurred to me. _"Exactly how much can you guys…see from in there?"_ I asked via thought.

Solus giggled. "Enough, brother, enough," she said.

I turned bright red, and Solus collapsed into laughter at my embarrassment. Closing my optics I changed as fast as I could before slipping into bed. I shut my optics as I slowly began drifting to sleep.

"Rude," Solus said, causing my optics to snap open. "He didn't even say good night," she pouted.

"Good night," I growled.

"Good night," she responded gleefully. I sighed. Tomorrow was going to be a _long_ day…

_The following day…_

I groaned as I woke up, opening my optics as I did. It was weird hearing them buzz and click as they adjusted, but I'd get used to it.

"Morning baby brother," Solus said as I woke up.

"Great," I mumbled. "You're still here," I said as I got dressed.

Solus huffed indignantly. "That's no way to talk to your older sister," she said.

I heard a slapping sound in my skull, and Solus yelped. "What was that for?" she demanded.

"Behave yourself sister, our brother is still adapting to the change. You aren't helping," Vector said.

"I am trying the best I can. I like working with machines and gadgets better; they aren't sarcastic," she retorted, and the two got into an argument.

I winced as I left my room, the two verbally sparring with each other. You know, for two ancient Primes with untold wisdom, they sure could act like children.

"Hey, I heard that!" Solus said as I walked into the kitchen. Our three guests were snacking on an unrecognizable substance baked by my mother. From the looks on their faces, it tasted as bad as it looked.

My only response to her remark was a light smack on my head. "Fine, I'll be quiet," she grumbled.

"That'll be the day," Vector snorted.

"Shut it," I warned quietly, trying not to draw attention. Unfortunately, Annabeth heard me.

"Something the matter Jack?" she asked, a worried look on her face.

I sighed. "If you call having two Primes bickering in your head like a bunch of twelve year olds a problem, then yeah something's the matter," I said.

Everyone froze to stare at me like I was crazy when I finished. "I don't think they believe you," Solus pointed out.

I mentally slapped her and refocused my attention on them, ignoring her protests. "I'm not crazy," I said.

"Right," Percy said.

"I'm not!" I protested. "Dad has the Primes talking to me to guide me or something like that, not entirely sure. Point is, I have two of them bickering in my head right now,"

"You're obviously not kidding, so which two?" Annabeth asked.

"Solus and Vector Prime," I said.

"Hello!" Solus said.

"They can't hear us Solus," Vector pointed out.

"Should still say hello," she mumbled.

There was a thud as I slammed my head on the table. "This is going to be a very long day," I mumbled, head still on the table.

Everyone laughed at this, while Solus and Vector continued to bicker in my skull. _"I swear if you two don't knock it off this instant,"_ I threatened over thought.

The two stopped bickering, at least temporarily, and I let out a grateful sigh. Mom apparently was worried, and I felt her hand on my shoulder. "You sure you want to head to work today Jack? You can take a sick day to get used to all this," she offered.

I shook my head as I lifted it up. "No, it's fine. I can handle it as long as those two behave," I said, directing the last bit to Solus.

"What did I do?" she asked defensively.

"What you always do," Vector Prime mumbled.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

I mentally sighed as the two started bickering. "And I thought you and Annabeth were bad," I mumbled.

"Hey!" they both shouted in unison. I laughed at the two's defensiveness and made my way out of the house. I snatched a pair of sunglasses and put them over my optics and slammed my hands into my pockets. The glasses hopefully would keep others from noticing my golden optics.

"So exactly where are we going?" Solus asked curiously.

I sighed. _"Work,"_ I said.

"Oh, not that horrid establishment that Primus told us about," Vector said.

_"Yes that place, I need the money,"_ I said.

Solus let out a groan, and Vector reprimanded her. "Be patient Solus. We cannot interfere. Besides, I think that its quiet impressive that one as young as our brother has the courage to work at such a place," he said.

"Thanks… I think," I said as I made my way into the K.O. burger restaurant. It really was going to be a long day, wasn't it?

_Later…_

Kill. Me.

If I thought work was bad when I was alone in my head, with those two it was horrifying. Solus was worse, always complaining about something. Vector tried to keep her quiet, but she always found a way to get under my skin. Didn't help that she was so cheerful in how she said it.

I sighed as the most recent order drove off, worried about what exactly was happening at base with the others, or with Optimus, who was at the mercy of Megatron. "Do not worry, brother," Vector said, trying to comfort me. "Even as Orion Pax, Optimus was not so easily harmed," he said.

_"Thanks…" _I said when I saw a familiar figure standing across from the drive thru window.

"Hey, Jack," she said, smiling.

"Sierra!" I said, honestly surprised. I heard Solus giggle at my surprise and ignored her

"How come I never see you around?" she asked.

"W-what are you talking about?" Jack asked. "W-we have Chemistry together."

I inwardly cursed my stuttering when it came to important matters. Or talking to girls. She looked at me and shrugged…and I realized what I just said.

"Class!" Jack corrected, hurriedly. "Chemistry _class_," I said, and Solus collapsed into fits of laughter. I could have sworn I heard Vector chuckling too.

"I mean…_outside_ of school," she hinted. "I never see you at any parties…or the mall…"

"Well…" I started, leaning on the windowsill. "Mostly I'm here…wearing the _hat._"

I rolled my eyes at the cheap thing, earning a smile from her.

"And…you can't study enough for those old SATs you know," I continued, "And…there's some _other_ stuff."

She gave me questioning look, and at that exact moment I heard a buzz in the background.

_"Just. My. Luck,"_ I thought.

"No, you were doing so well," Solus said with a laugh.

"Don't go anywhere," I said, turning to the intercom, sighing, and repeating the same old greeting. "Welcome to KO drive in. May I take your o…"

"5pm, Jack," Arcee's voice said through the intercom. "Your shift is over; let's go."

I looked up at the clock and nearly cheered.

"Oh…" Sierra said. "_That_ kind of stuff," she awkwardly turned to leave.

I mentally groaned. This was _not_ how I wanted this conversation to go!

"Sierra, wait!" I cried, trying to think fast over the two Primes laughing at me. "…She's my mother."

Only after the words came out of my mouth did I realize how dumb that sounded. Solus was hysterical at this point, and Vector gave up trying not to laugh. And, of course, to make the situation worse, Arcee just _happened_ to drive up at that moment when Sierra turned around.

"Your m=Mom looks good in leather," Sierra said awkwardly. "On _your_ bike,"

And she walked off, leaving me there awkwardly. Both Primes were now roaring with laughter.

"T-t-that i-is the f-funniest t-thing I've s-seen in years!" Solus squealed as she laughed.

"O-oh my c-cooling s-system," Vector said as I heard him try to catch his breath.

I glared at the guilty bike in front of me. "Didn't mean to decimate your social life," Arcee whispered.

"Not the first time," I sighed. "Any sign of Optimus?"

There was a brief silence from her,"…Not today," she said sadly. I inwardly cursed as the two stopped.

"She needs comforting," Vector pointed out.

_"I'm aware of that!"_ I hissed mentally. _"But how do I comfort her over this?" _ I asked. Wait. Was I asking one of the Thirteen how to comfort a girl? Could this day get any weirder?

"Tell her, there's always a chance to find a light," Vector said. "The future is as yet unshaped. It is we that shape it."

I sighed but repeated it. "Ok," Arcee said. "I know you didn't come up with that on your own. Out with it, where'd you hear that?" she demanded.

Solus apparently found this funny and started giggling again. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," I mumbled.

Arcee raised her bikes mirror, but said nothing, simply driving to the front of the store, waiting for me "Thanks for the advice," I whispered sarcastically.

"Anytime," Vector replied.

"Brother, that was sarcasm," Solus said.

"…..I knew that," The Prime responded.

I chuckled at the Prime as I got onto Arcee and we drove off to base in relative silence. As we drove, I sensed that Arcee was feeling tense and opened my mouth to ask her what the problem was, when she spoke first.

"So who told you that line?" she asked as they drove.

"What line?" I asked innocently.

"Smooth brother," Solus said.

"Smooth Jack," Arcee said. "You know what I'm talking about," she said.

I sighed. "Okay, fine, the Thirteen are talking to me," I admitted.

Arcee went dead silent for several seconds. "Jack…" she started.

"I'm not kidding!" I said. "Solus and Vector Prime are talking to me, even as we speak!" I said.

"She won't believe you, brother," Vector said.

_"So how do I get her to?" _I demanded angrily. For providing guidance they were being pretty lousy at their jobs.

"Shift your hand to your Cybertronian form and place it over her spark." Vector said. "It will allow us to communicate with her directly," he explained.

"Jack, I'm waiting for a real answer," Arcee warned.

I sighed and looked at my right hand as we drove. It slowly shifted to its Cybertronian form, and I placed it on Arcee's gas tank. I suddenly felt a connection with her…with her mind!

"What the!" the femme shouted and slid to a stop on the side of the road. Apparently, she felt my presence too.

"Jack what is…" she started.

"Calm yourself Arcee," Vector ordered. "I am Vector Prime, and Jackson is using one of his abilities to communicate our presence to you," he explained.

"V-vector P-prime?" she stuttered.

"What am I? Cesium salami?" Solus demanded angrily.

"W-who?" she asked.

"Solus Prime, at your service," she said and I could imagine that she was bowing once again.

"So you really are in Jacks head," the femme said. "But why?" she asked.

"To provide guidance, per Primus's orders," he explained.

"And to annoy the ever loving scrap out of him," Solus said with glee.

"I…this is…wow," she said.

"Yes, it is indeed a wow moment," Solus said.

"Solus," I growled.

"Fine, fine, I'll behave," she said. "Besides our time with our baby brother is almost up,"

"Oh thank Primus," I muttered, only to receive a mental slap from Solus.

"Ow!" I yelped. "how did you even do that?"

"Language," Solus said with a giggle. "Don't use our creator's name in vain," she said.

I sighed. "Whatever," I said dismissively and removed my hand from Arcee's gas tank, turning it back to human form.

"Believe me now?" I asked.

"Kind of hard not to, given how I just spoke with some of the biggest legends in Cybertronian history," Arcee said as we drove back to base…

_Later…_

"You weren't able to determine the Decepticon's location?" Ratchet hissed after a failed scouting/search and rescue mission. "Or if Optimus was even aboard ship?!"

"I…couldn't confirm," Arcee answered back. The Cons had attacked a military base of some sorts, and Arcee had given chase in motorcycle form, getting aboard the ship. Unfortunately, Soundwave had managed to bridge her back to Earth before she could get any real information.

"Humph, serves the femme right for charging in blindly," a voice rasped in my ear. A new voice, one that was far more unnerving than Vector or Solus.

_"Who are you?" _I asked.

The voice chuckled. "Liege Maximo, _brother_" he hissed.

_"Great more voices,"_ I mumbled. His response was a searing pain in my skull, causing me to grunt quietly in pain.

"Do not toy with me _boy._ I am not as forgiving or gentle as our other siblings," he hissed.

_"No, but you're a heck of a lot more annoying," _I retorted, earning another wave of pain.

"I am only here to watch you; I have no other reason," he hissed.

"Stop torturing the boy, brother," another voice said, this one was strong and wise, like a mix between Optimus, and my father's voice.

"Prima," he hissed. "You think I care about the condition of our youngling brother?" he demanded.

"No, and that is why Father sent me with you, to make sure you wouldn't hurt young Jackson," Prima said and addressed me directly. "I apologize, brother; Liege is the incarnate of evil. He has no remorse for his actions,"

_"Yet dad thought it was a good idea for him to be in my head!?" _I asked angrily.

"It was so that you would learn from all sides of the spectrum," Prima said. "One cannot defeat an enemy without first knowing their enemy, and who better to prepare you for the Decepticons than the ultimate evil," Prima explained. From his tone, he was as happy about this as I was.

"For the time though, I would recommend you pay attention to the scene unfolding," he warned. "I will deal with Liege Maximo," he stated, and the two began bickering…Trade one pair for another I guess.

But I listened to his advice, right as Bulkhead gave a growl and smashed his servo onto one of Ratchet's tools.

"Bulkhead…!" Ratchet started.

"What?" Bulkhead hissed. "You _needed_ that? The only thing _I_ need is our head honcho back!"

"It's not your fault," I said to his Arcee, whose faceplate twisted angrily.

"If any of us needed rescuing, Optimus would have found a way," she spat, bitterly. "I _didn't_. Simple as that."

"Ratchet!" Fowler cried over the video screen. "What happened out there? Reports indicate at least a dozen wounded! The heat's on me to provide some explanation! You 'Bots better get your act together or the _Pentagon_ will make me shut down your base!"

And he cut out with an air of finality.

I heard Liege growl. "If _I _was in charge of this group, we wouldn't take orders from the fleshlings," he said.

_"You realize that technically one of said fleshlings is your mother, since she is _married_ to our father," _I pointed out. Liege simply growled to himself as we refocused on the conversation

"But…where would you go?" Raf asked.

"Who knows!" Ratchet growled "Maybe they'll ship us out to some _island_…or fire us out into space! Wouldn't _that_ be a welcome relief!"

"I don't blame Fowler," Arcee said. "_Optimus_ would have evacuated _all_ humans in the area _before_ engaging the Cons!"

The yellow scout whirred angrily.

"We don't _know_ what Optimus would have done…" Bulkhead snarled, "Because he's _not HERE!"_

An idea suddenly hit my mind "Guys?" I started.

"You're pretty good at stating the obvious, Bulk. Anything else you'd like to mention that we already know?" Arcee snapped, getting up into the Wrecker's face. I sighed. They were ignoring me.

_"Guys…"__ I repeated._

"Nothing I can say in front of the _children_," he hissed.

"GUYS!" I yelled.

They still bickered.

Suddenly, several lights shattered, and the television exploded into sparks. There was a low groan as the entire base shook before everything became quiet. All the Bots looked at me in shock, and I looked to see that I had assumed my Cybertronian form on accident. I ignored it for now and addressed the bots.

"Hey!" I shouted. "Aren't we overlooking the one positive? Nobody's talking about what the 'Cons just got their claws on!"

Ratchet snorted. "Yes, we managed to allow them to finally acquire a _power source_ for their space bridge!" he shouted.

"And _how_ exactly would that be a _positive_?" Arcee asked.

"We let them finish building their space bridge," I continued, a plan slowly forming in my processor.

"Why? So they can bring back more zombies from Cybertron?" Bulkhead snapped.

"No," I said, a huge smile lighting up my faceplate, "so we can commandeer it…And use it to send _me_ to Cybertron,"

"Whoa!" Miko said, looking at me with an impressed look. "That's a pretty good idea!"

Arcee laughed. "Oh, well if _Miko_ thinks it's a good idea…" she started, earning her a glare from Bulkhead.

"Nobody's saying it will be easy," I said, calmly. "But you've seized a space bridge before…"

"We _blew one up_!" Bulkhead protested. "That's a whole lot different than three of us seizing and holding one!"

Bumblebee gave a few chirps.

"'Bee's right," Arcee said.**"**We'd have to find that thing first,"

"Uh, _hello_! If it's a space bridge isn't it…" Miko pointed upwards.

"The term _space_ refers to its transport range, not its physical location!" Ratchet sighed. "And we've been monitoring Earth's orbit since the last one…we'd know if it were there!"

"So the bridge could be somewhere here on Earth," I suggested.

"Like trying to find a servo in a scrap yard," Bulkhead muttered.

"Then maybe we'd better start looking," Arcee said, calming down.

"But the fact remains…" Ratchet started. "We do not know what the Decepticons have in store for Optimus…Or if he's truly safe from harm,"

The base fell into morbid silence…

**A/N: So, how many people knew that Jack would start talking with the thirteen? Show of hands. Hey you guys who I told, keep your hands down, you don't count. Ok, this chapter was SO MUCH FUN TO WRITE. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Anyway, review with critique and PM me for plot ideas and questions. Bye!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Family Visits

**1 Week Later, Jacks POV:**

Mom drove the four of us into base, Arcee and Bee having gone on a recon mission. We'd asked the three if they needed to return home and as it turned out, they were usually gone this long. Since it was spring break Percy and Annabeth were free and Grover was a satyr. So in other words we were stuck with them.

Mom parked her new car in the base and the four of us exited to see Ratchet and Bulkhead in base. The two barely acknowledged our presence, typical given how things had been going lately. Since we'd lost Optimus things in base had become very morbid and silent.

"It wouldn't kill them to say hello," Solus commented. She and Vector seemed to be the most common Primes in my head. Since Liege and Prima left I'd had them in my head pretty much the entire time.

"Solus, what have we talked about?" Vector scolded. Luckily for me, Solus seemed to not be quiet as irritating as before. That either meant she was acting less bubbly, or I was growing used to it. I'm not sure which was scarier.

Solus sighed "I know brother I know still, it wouldn't kill them to say hello," she mumbled.

_"Will you two knock it off!" _I ordered. I wasn't particularly in the mood for their bickering.

"What crawled up your tail pipe and died?" Solus asked as the others and I climbed up to our usual spot.

Miko and Raf were watching something on the new TV since I accidently destroyed the old one a week back. Fowler was standing in front of a group of terminals likely helping Ratchet look for the space bridge. So far we had had no luck finding it, but it was only a matter of time.

"Any luck?" Percy asked as he and the others took their spots by the couch. I sat against the railing behind them, lightly holding the key to Vector Sigma. Every time I touched it, it would glow from my touch. Probably got to do with my heritage.

"Or the fact that you are a Prime," Solus pointed out.

I sighed _"We've been over this Solus, just because Primus is my father it doesn't make me Prime material," _I thought.

"No its your many other qualities that make you a Prime," Vector argued "You put others safety above yours, you care for their well being, take responsibility for your action, and have taken charge when the situation calls for it," he explained.

_"I just do what anyone else would do,"_ I replied. This had been a point we argued over constantly and it always devolved into the same conversation.

"No, others would not do what you do in the situations you've been point in Brother," Vector started.

"Oh let our baby brother pout Vector, he's just as stubborn as Prima, you won't get through to him," Solus said.

"Gee thanks Solus," I muttered to myself. Everyone knew the thirteen were talking to me, but I preferred keeping my outbursts at them to myself. It had to look a little funny when I started yelling at the air to shut up.

"Jack," Ratchet called "I need you for a moment," he said.

I stood up and looked at the medic "What do you need Ratchet?" I asked approaching him.

"I need you to assume your Cybertronian form so I can take proper measurements," he stated.

I looked at him curiously "Measurements for what?" I asked.

"Armor for when you go to Cybertron. Your Protoform seems to have already developed some light armor, but it will provide little protection on what's left of our home world," he explained.

I nodded "Alright just give me a minute to get changed," I said and made my way to the bathroom. Over the week I had only assumed my Cybertronian form one more time if you didn't count my optics as part of that change.

The last time I had, I noticed several small changes to my form. Not drastic changes, but enough to be noticeable. Small blue highlights had started to appear on my body, and my plating was starting to take on a whiter color like my fathers. When I asked Ratchet about this, he said my natural armor was developing.

Apparently every bot developed natural armor to fit their body types as they matured. The natural armor was adaptable and could change to match vehicle forms.

There were other armors one could apply, as apparently Breakdown's armor was all artificial and he was actually very similar to Bumblebee at one time.

Regardless, Ratchet said it would be some time before my natural armor fully developed several years perhaps. I was actually eager to see what it would look like when finished so I could see what my alt form would be. In the meantime though I was stuck with a relatively colorless body.

Once inside the bathroom, I locked the door and quickly changed out of my clothes. Closing my optics I let myself assume my Cybertronian form. I let out an involuntary groan of pain as my vertebrate and bones popped out of position and my organs proceeded to play jump rope with themselves. I looked at my hands and saw wiring and plating traveling up my arms and body.

My skin itched as the plating made its way to my face, and my blood felt like it was on fire as the blood cells were replaced with Energon. I looked at my face and watched as the plating and wires engulfed it.

My hair quickly disappeared and was replaced with my metallic face. The weirdest part of that change had to be the fact that my nose just… vanished every time I changed. It was just odd.

I shook myself and took several breaths, calming myself and hearing the cooling fans kick on. I hadn't noticed before, but Cybertronians apparently had fans that kicked on whenever we needed to cool down or if we got embarrassed. It was too quiet to hear from another, and I could barely hear my own, but I could feel them kick on.

I was about to leave when I noticed something else on my back. I turned to look and saw a pair of… wings, on my back. They were mostly white with a blue highlight around the edge, and softly curved at the tips. Quiet the contrast when compared to the Vehicons or Starscream's wings.

Solus giggled as I examined them "Well what do you know, our baby brothers a flyer," she said with a squeal.

"Well the Autobots have needed a flyer on their team," I pointed out as I fully examined some of my changes. All my plates had taken on more coloring, either being a vibrant white or sky blue.

The blue was especially noticeable on my wrists and joint areas. The under area of my jaw was colored a light blue as well furthering my family resemblance to Optimus. It was quiet the contrast to my golden optics.

"And you're even more adorable than before!" Solus squealed followed by a burst of giggling.

I sighed and walked out of the bathroom, my pedes echoing against the floor. Several of the others looked over at me when I walked out and I saw the shock in their faces over how much my form was changing.

"Wow Jack, go through another costume change?" Miko asked.

I sighed "Armor's developing Miko, that's all," I explained as I walked to Ratchets med bay.

I stopped by his pede and crossed my arms "I'm here Ratchet, where do you want me?"

Ratchet looked down at me and lowered his servo gesturing for me to hop on. I did as he asked and he lifted me onto an Autobot sized berth. I wasn't entirely sure why but maybe to make it easier to take the measurements.

Ratchet took various scans and measurements of me, ordering me to move my arms or legs accordingly. Once he finished he ordered me to turn around. I complied and saw the green light of his scan.

I felt his servo pinch one of my wings and let out a hiss of pain "Watch it!" I yelped turning to face him.

"What was that for!?" I demanded. I was overreacting a smidge, but that fragging hurt!

"Sorry Jackson, I should have warned you. I was simply checking to make sure your sensor net in your wings had fully developed," Ratchet explained.

I calmed down after that "Sorry, but you could have just asked," I pointed out.

"I'll keep that in mind," Ratchet said. He looked over some sort of statistic in his computer in his arm before motioning for me to hop down.

"Alright, you're free to go," he said. I nodded and hopped down, my pedes clanking lightly against the concrete floor.

I made my way up the stairs to the platform when I realized that my wings were _very _sensitive. So much so that I could pick up subtle changes in the air flow of the base. It was a weird sensation but felt… good to, to be able to sense the changes in air currents and temperature.

_"Are all flyer's wings this sensitive?" _I asked the resident Primes.

"I wouldn't know," Solus said "I'm not a flyer," she stated, though from her tone she seemed fairly proud of that fact.

"They are brother, the wings of a flyer are some of the most sensitive parts on their chassis," Vector explained.

_"You're a flyer?" _I asked in surprise. From the times I'd seen him in my reflections I never saw any indication of his wings.

"I am, my wings have simply been reformatted into a different shape," he explained and I remembered the large metal cape on his back.

"Yes my 'cape' is where my wings are," he stated.

_"Never knew that,"_ I admitted as I opened the door to the bathroom and walked in. I guess it made sense that he might have his wings reshaped given what the Primes went through when my dad made them.

I looked around the bathroom for my clothes before I changed back but couldn't find them. I'd left them folded on the counter of the restroom, but now I couldn't find them. Mom hadn't brought any extra clothes since I knew how to control my changing now, so if I couldn't find them I was stuck in Cybertronian form.

Out of the corner of my optic I saw Solus and Vector in the mirror laughing at me "It's not that funny," I growled.

"Oh get over it baby brother, you needed to spend more time in your Cybertronian form," Solus said gleefully.

"Easy for you to say," I grumbled as I made my way to the door.

"Who stole my clothes!?" I demanded as I walked out of the bathroom, still in robot mode.

Everyone looked at me confused "What do you mean Jack?" Percy asked.

"I can't find my clothes anywhere in the bathroom and I left them folded on the counter," I explained scanning the now fairly large group of humans for any guilty faces.

I then noticed a certain pigtailed girl was gone "Where's Miko?" I asked.

"She's right…" Percy looked to his left and seemed to notice she was gone for the first time "How does she do that!?" he asked amazed.

"It's Miko," Raf said "We don't question it, we just accept it," he said and those of us who knew her best laughed.

Once the laugh died down I let out a sigh "Looks like I'm stuck like this until our resident rocker gets back," I said looking at my metal form.

"Can't be any worse than being human," Annabeth said as I made my way to the group who apparently were in the middle of trying to beat Raf in a racing game.

"Don't know, I've never spent any length of time in this form," I admitted as I leaned against that railing. Apparently my metal body wasn't all that heavy as I didn't even get a groan of protest from the railing.

"We will return," Ratchet suddenly proclaimed and we all looked to him.

"Wait, where are you two going?" mom asked.

"We may have stumbled upon an interesting source who could help us find the space bridge," Ratchet explained. He pulled down on the lever and we watched while the ground bridge opened up.

Ratchet turned back before he walked through "Jack, you're in charge," he said. I blinked my optics in surprise as Ratchet and Bulkhead walked through.

"Why are you in charge?" Percy mumbled.

"Pretty sure I'm older than you," I pointed out.

"Yeah but your mom and Fowler are here," he countered and I shrugged.

"Not a big deal anyway," I said and heard footsteps coming up the stairs. I turned to see Miko walking up the stairs, the girl freezing when she saw me.

"Why hello Miko," I said with mock cheerfulness "You wouldn't happen to know where my clothes went?" feigning disinterest while examining the key.

Miko laughed nervously "Jack why would I steal your clothes?" she asked her eyes darting from side to side.

"I never asked why you stole them," I pointed out, optics flicking towards her. I watched her gulp nervously and hid my smile.

She suddenly took off yelling "You'll never take me alive!" she screamed and I chuckled as I stood up about to chase after her.

I felt a hand on my wing and froze turning to see who the offender was. Annabeth stood there holding my wing and I scowled. It was really uncomfortable for her to touch it and I got more antsy the longer she held onto it.

"Let go of my wing," I growled dangerously.

"Only if you let Miko go," she countered.

"I wasn't going to hurt her," I replied.

"I know that but you should spend some time in this body, there's no telling how long we'll be on Cybertron," she pointed out.

I raised an optic ridge at her, Percy and Grover looking at her confused "We?" I asked "It'll just be me and Arcee going through the portal,"

Annabeth shook her head, still holding my wing "If you think I'm going to let you go to an alien world filled with some of the most amazing architecture ever _gearhead _you have another thing coming,"

"Gearhead!?" I asked confused.

"It's her nickname for you now Jack, its kinda fitting if you think about it," Percy said.

I looked from him and back to Annabeth "We don't need you to come along you'll likely get in the way,"

"Plus the atmosphere on Cybertron probably isn't breathable," Mom pointed out.

"I could hook her up with a space suit," Fowler said and we all looked to him confused "I still have contacts in NASA," he pointed out.

"Doesn't matter," I said and looked back at Annabeth "You're not coming," I said matter-of-factly.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes and I saw looks of pity from Grover and Percy. I had a feeling I was going to lose this conversation soon and lose it badly.

"You know, since we got here I've been studying Cybertronian biology a lot," she stated.

I felt a seed of worry planted in my processor "You are so screwed little brother," Solus commented before Vector reprimanded her.

"That so?" I asked hiding my worry.

"Yeah, I found out some interesting things about a Cybertronian and their wings," she said, her voice never wavering.

I gulped nervously, my optics whirring and clicking nervously "W-what kind of t-things?" I asked my worry apparent.

I felt her grip on my wing tighten and I visibly flinched "That for one, their wings are _very _sensitive. Your reaction with Ratchets checkup basically confirmed it," she said, her voice still even and unwavering. That had to be the scariest part.

I gave the others a pleading look but they all looked away innocently. Even Mom seemed to be laughing at my predicament! I looked back to Annabeth nervously and put on a half smile.

"I can just squeeze and it'll hurt," she said, applying pressure to my wing and causing me to flinch.

"Or, I could do this," she said and suddenly traced a single finger lightly across my wing.

Pure ecstasy seemed to flood into my systems and I shivered "Dooon't dooo that," I purred. I couldn't help myself, it was like some other part of me took over as long as she lightly traced my wing.

Annabeth let out a laugh "What, this?" she asked in an innocent tone, running her fingers down the wing.

I shivered again at the touch and felt my optics dim. I nodded "Thaaat," I groaned. I just lost control standing there by the railing letting her trace her fingers on my wings.

Annabeth laughed again "Guys, you have got to try this it's hilarious," she said.

I think the others looked to me for confirmation, but I was pretty much gone at that point. My optics kept shuttering from time to time as she traced a finger over my wings.

Annabeth looked back at the others when they didn't come over "Percy come on you got to try this," she said. Percy shrugged and got up standing next to his friend.

"All you have to do is trace your fingers on his wings lightly like this," she said demonstrating on me. I let out another shudder from her and I almost thought I could hear the two Primes laughing at me in my skull. Right now though I didn't care I hadn't felt this good in a long time.

And then it got worse, Percy imitating Annabeth on my other wing and I practically melted then and there. My knees gave out and I landed on my aft eliciting laughs from everyone, even Miko who apparently had returned.

Somehow, I'm not sure how, I was pretty much gone at that point, I wound up on the couch as Annabeth and Miko took advantage of my sensitive wings. I heard laughing coming from the others as I continually shuddered from their light tracing.

"Who knew the way to get Jack to relax for a few minutes was to stroke his wings like a cat?" Miko asked with a laugh.

"So Jack, do you still want me to stay here while you go to Cybertron?" Annabeth asked.

"Y-yeeeesss," I managed to get out. She frowned when I said that and I think Percy and Grover backed up.

"You're not still mad at me are you Jack?" Miko asked me at the exact same time that she traced a finger at the seam where my wings met my back.

"Nooooo," I purred flexing my back.

Miko smiled since I wasn't going to try and strangle her anymore and stopped stroking my wings walking away "Good luck Annabeth," she said cheerfully.

Raf turned to mom while Annabeth continued to try and get me to say yes "Aren't you going to stop her?" he asked.

"I would, but I've never seen Jack this relaxed, I think I'll let those two have their fun," she responded. Gee thanks mom, glad for your support.

"Come on Jack, I could be real useful on Cybertron," Annabeth pleaded, her fingers running along the connected point between my wings and back.

"M-maybe," I groaned, and I think she smiled in victory when I said that.

"How about now?" she asked and rolled some wires between her fingers. At this I did something that shocked everyone.

I started purring and clicking contently, "Okay, its official, Jack is part cat," Miko said seriously.

I muttered out something and Annabeth resumed turning me into putty "What was that Jack?" she asked in an innocent tone.

"F-fiiIiine," I purred "Y-you can-" at that moment the sound of two engines roared through the base, breaking her hold on me. I stood up away from her and turned my wings away from her.

"Nice try," I said as Arcee and Bee pulled into base "but you're still not coming," I stated.

Annabeth crossed her arms and glared at me, but with my wings out of her reach I wasn't going to back down. I stood firm and felt my wings stand straighter at the same time.

"Doesn't matter how hard you try to fight her Jack, long as you're in that form your gonna lose," Percy pointed out.

"Why's that?" Arcee asked as she and Bee transformed.

I looked at my partner and gestured to the wings on my back "So you've got wings now huh?" she asked.

I nodded "You never mentioned how sensitive they were," I said still remembering the event from a few minutes ago.

"You never asked," was her reply "Why, did you hurt them?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but Miko interrupted me "No, turns out if you pet Jack's wings and he purrs like a cat," she said with a laugh.

I glared at the girl, my wings standing on end "His wings are like a cats tail too!" she said with a laugh.

Arcee apparently, wasn't amused "Wings for Cybertronians are very sensitive parts of the body. They're used to detect changes in air pressure and temperature and reflect the mood their in," she explained to the girl.

"Right well, Annabeth already figured out how sensitive Jacks are," Mom said pointing to the girl.

Arcee looked at Annabeth "You are aware that stroking a bots wings is the equivalent of human foreplay," she deadpanned.

The entire room fell into a dead silence at this revelation. Annabeth was burning beet red and I'm pretty sure my faceplate was matching armor by now. My wings were drooped low as I pretty much tried to disappear.

Unfortunately, Solus and Vector were still in my mind "Congratulations baby brother, you made it to second base!" Solus said cheerfully.

I coughed nervously and mentally slapped my sister, inciting a pained protest from her. Meanwhile, I was also trying to stay as far from Annabeth as possible, keeping my wings pressed flat against my back.

Arcee chuckled at our embarrassment "At least for grounders it is. With flyers it's also a way to help them relax since they tend to get claustrophobic in tight spaces," she finished.

I looked at the large silo walls with worry now. I had never been claustrophobic before, but would my instincts change that?

"Don't worry Jack," Vector said "You are much too small, and the base much too large for you to become claustrophobic, at least till your flight abilities kick in," he said.

"Great," I muttered "Claustrophobia,"

"Actually, why are you still in your robot form Jack?" my partner asked "I thought you preferred your human form,"

"I'm not like this by choice," I said gesturing to my body.

I pointed at Miko "She _stole _my human clothes so I would be forced to stay in this form," I explained.

"Speaking of, why did you steal Jacks clothes?" Percy said.

"Figured it'd be cool to have another human sized bot wandering around base," Miko said excitedly.

I pinched my non-existent nose and sighed "Miko, you didn't have to steal my clothes you realize that?" I asked.

"Well how else would I have convinced you to stay in that body?" she demanded.

"You always like staying human for some reason," she pouted.

I opened my mouth to respond when I thought about what she'd said. Part of the reason I always stayed human was because my Cybertronian form scared me. I was afraid I'd forget what it was like to be human. But, maybe I didn't need to hide my other half around base. I was only half Cybertronian and I knew almost nothing about my body.

I sighed "Fine, Miko if you tell me where my clothes are I'll stay like this more often," I said gesturing to my body.

Miko immediately perked up "You're serious?" she asked.

"Yeah, I am. Maybe it was about time I stopped trying to completely hide the other half of my heritage," I said smiling slightly.

"Sweet, I'll go get them!" she said excitedly and took off. It really was that easy.

"So my little brother is no longer ashamed of his body," Solus said with a giggle.

I rolled my optics _"Never was ashamed of it sister, just prefer my human body," _I explained.

"Well your much more adorable in your Cybertronian body," Solus said, "what with your itty bitty little wings and your-"

"Solus, just stop," Vector said "Jack doesn't need you always teasing him,"

Solus let out a disappointed sigh "But it's so much fun to tease him!" she protested.

"_Ugh I thought your job was to guide me?" _I asked.

"Yes but lately we've had nothing to guide you over," Solus whined "So teasing you is the next best thing!" she exclaimed gleefully.

I let out a loud sigh and several of my friends looked at me "Solus is being a pain," I explained.

They all nodded at my explanation. Everyone knew about the thirteen now and they were used to my occasional bursts at them. Arcee though, was the only one to actually have talked to them. My ability to share my mind with another Cybertronian was… unnerving to me.

I shook my head and looked to Arcee and Bee "Any sign of the space bridge?" I asked.

Bee let out a series of sad beeps and whirrs. For some reason even though I was Cybertronian, I couldn't understand it. According to the Primes it was because I didn't know how to speak Cybertronian. If I did I could understand the scout.

"No sign of it, we searched everywhere and we couldn't find it," Arcee said with a defeated tone.

"It's out there somewhere Arcee, we'll find it eventually," I said encouragingly. The look on her faceplates suggested otherwise.

"Hey, we've faced impossible odds before right?" I asked her.

"Jack those times were different, we had Optimus leading us," she answered.

"What about when Airachnid arrived on Earth? Or when mom was captured?" I asked "What about rescuing Agent Fowler from the cons?"

Arcee looked back up at me "Optimus is a good leader, but a good leader is only as good as his team, and Team Prime is one heck of a time," I said with a smile.

Arcee smiled slightly at this "That's nice of you to say Jack, tell Vector Prime thanks," she quipped.

"Hey, I came up with that on my own!" I retorted "Not everything I say is the thirteen trying to speak through me,"

"As far as you know," Solus said with a giggled. I heard a slapping sound and Solus let out a yelp.

"Behave Solus," Vector ordered and the two descended into bickering.

I let out another sigh "Solus and Vector bickering again?" she asked.

"You have _no_ idea," I said "You'd think for two immortal Primes of incredible wisdom they'd act a little more mature," I said.

"Oh they can't be that bad," Arcee said though the smile on her faceplate suggested she knew otherwise.

"Vector isn't, it's Solus who's the pain. You only met her for a short time but she is _really_ bubbly at times," I warned.

Arcee was about to respond when the ground bridge suddenly flared to life. We all turned to the bridge and waited as Ratchet and Bulkhead walked through the bridge. Bulkhead had a large smile on his faceplate so the two must have had good news.

"We've found the Decepticon Spacebridge!" Ratchet crowed, "We're going to get our leader back!"

We all perked up at this, the news was fantastic! But wait, were did they find it?

"Thank Primus!" Arcee cried.

Bumblebee gave an exultant whirring sound.

"The Decepticon Spacebridge is located right here," Ratchet said pointing to a flashing Decepticon insignia, "Deep within an Energon mine,"

"Adjacent to a raw fuel supply…clever," Arcee said, "What's our Intel?"

"A….reliable source," he said, avoiding her gaze, "Do we have a consensus?"

I nodded my wings trembling in anticipation. I felt a hand on my wing and turned to see Annabeth standing there.

"We both are," she said and looked at me "Unless you want a repeat of earlier you won't say a word," she threatened, before letting go of my wing.

I let out a sigh and my wings drooped "Fine fine," I said before looking to Arcee "But it's not my final choice, Arcee gets a say too," I said a little to smugly.

Arcee shrugged "It's fine, long as you can get some proper equipment for her," she said nonchalantly.

My jaw probably would have hit the floor if it weren't attached. That said I did a fairly good impression of a fish out of water "Wait you're okay with that idea?" I asked in disbelief.

Arcee shrugged "I'm fine with it, the real question though, is June?" she said looking to mom.

"I still think it's too dangerous," she whispered.

"Mom I know this is hard," I said as he came close to her, "but Optimus risked his life to save our planet and he's not even human. We owe it to him."

"Jack may be the only one who can do this June," Arcee said, "but I don't want you to think for _one_ moment that I'll allow him to travel without keeping an optic on him,"

"Yes but now we have two children in danger," Mom said with a worried expression.

"June, if you think that I'm going to let a human child or youngling out of my sight," she started "I'm a femme, it's in my programming to keep them safe,"

"Youngling?" I demanded, only to receive a small wink from my partner.

"Not everyone is destined for an ordinary life," Ratchet said, "Optimus Prime was once Orion Pax after all,"

Mom smiled sadly, "When you were little," she said, "you always wanted to be an astronaut."

"Now that that's settled," Ratchet said, "Here is the plan. We will ground bridge directly into the Energon mine and make our way to the Spacebridge chamber, neutralizing any Decepticon forces we encounter. Once we secure the Spacebridge, we will send for Jack and Annabeth, stealth must be an absolute priority. We most certainly will be outnumbered. If a Decepticon should transmit an alert to their warship…"

"The odds become 400 to 1," Bulkhead finished

"The Decepticons have scrambled our signals in the past," Ratchet said, "I believe that we repay them in kind. And so, scrambling their communications upon entry will certainly provide an edge in this regard."

"Taking the 'Bridge is the easy part," Arcee said, "You three need to hold it long enough for Jack and _me,_ to get to Cybertron and back,"

"Rafael climbed to the top of the rope in gym class…we can do this," Ratchet said.

"What does _gym class_ have to do with anything?" Miko asked, "And if _Ratchet_ gets to go on a commando raid…I'm going too!" she declared. I rolled my optics at her, typical Miko.

"She isn't the brightest human, is she?" Vector asked.

_"No she isn't," _I admitted.

"I like her, she's got a fire to her," Solus declared.

"Of course you would like her sister, you two are practically the same, the only difference is you're made of metal and have a giant hammer," Vector said causing the two to descend into more bickering.

"Miko…" Ratchet growled, coming towards her, "you will help Rafael operate our ground bridge…and manage the communications hub." Miko gave a frustrated yell and stalked off.

"Can't go to Cybertron…can't storm the Decepticon Spacebridge…" she growled.

"And Nurse Darby will stand by in case of emergency," Ratchet said.

Mom gave a slight smile.

"Ma'am," Fowler said to Annabeth "Time to suit up," he said and lead her away.

The rest of us descended to the lower floor waiting for those two to get back while the strike team handled the con garrison. At the moment my wings were being quiet irritating, constantly fluttering in nervousness. It was bad enough _I_ was going to Cybertron, but now Annabeth was coming to. We'd have to take extra care to make sure that she didn't get hurt.

Percy apparently thought the same thing and approached me "Jack, whatever you do, please make sure that Annabeth doesn't get hurt," he asked. I saw and heard the worry in the 15 year old demigods voice and nodded.

"I promise nothing bad will happen to her," I said.

"Ugh seaweed brain you're such a worry wart," Annabeth said walking out in a space suit of sorts. It was different than the ones I saw on the news though. It was a light tan color with several valves and ports on it and a small pack on her back. She held her canister shaped helmet under an arm, her blonde hair pulled back in a pony tail.

"So how do I look sea weed brain?" she asked.

"Ready I guess," Percy responded with a fake smile. Okay, it was pretty obvious to everyone but these two now that they clearly had the hots for each other. I shook my head and smiled.

_"They're obviously in love," _I thought only to receive some giggles from Solus.

_"What!?" _I demanded.

"Oh nothing baby brother, nothing at all," she said cryptically.

_"Strike team to base,"_ Ratchet's voice said over the comm. line, _"objective secured."_

"That's your cue," Fowler said, turning around to face the three of us.

Percy Annabeth and Grover said their goodbye's while I did the same with my friends "Bring me back a souvenir?" Raf asked.

I smiled "If I can find one," I promised.

I looked to Miko "Good luck Gear head," was all she said.

I rolled my optics, "You too?" I demanded.

She just smiled innocently and backed off letting Fowler and Mom say their goodbyes, "Safe journey, son," Fowler said.

I looked to Mom who looked to be on the verge of tears "Just…go already," she said, she looked like she wanted to grab me and drag me back home, "Optimus needs you,"

I nodded and the three of us walked to the portal. I stopped before entering and turned back around giving a crisp salute. Everyone waved good bye and mom blew me a kiss. I smiled and walked through the bridge, my head and wings held high.

I passed through the bridge and shivered slightly as I felt the sudden change in air pressure and temperature. I looked around at the large structure that was the ground bridge. It looked like someone had taken a large circular boulder, hit it with another boulder a few times and then drilled a big hole in it. It was far less dignified then the bot's ground bridge to say the least.

The entire area though was huge. I looked up and saw that the ceiling was so high I could only barely make it out. The platform we were standing on was made of pure Cybertronian metal, starting out in a large circle that narrowed into a path towards the ground bridge. Spires of steel surrounded the circle and the whole area felt cold and… unclean.

Annabeth looked around at the cave in awe and I remembered how her only exposure to the bots architecture was at base. Not a great introduction to Cybertronian architecture.

"A little big isn't it?" I asked.

She nodded, her eyes wide as dinner plates "It's huge, even rooms built by the gods aren't _this _big," she admitted.

I chuckled to myself, if this was how she was going to react to a small outpost, I almost wanted to see her face when she saw Cybertron. Good thing she was tagging along for the ride.

"Locking on to Cybertron," Ratchet reported from a terminal in front of the bridge.

"You ready?" Arcee asked looking at me.

I reached into my subspace, a trick Arcee had taught me, and pulled the key out. It glowed faintly in my servo.

"Let's do this," I said as the Key continued to pulse gently.

"I'll leave the space bridge open in order to eliminate any communication lag over the great distance," Ratchet said, "and make it easier for you to locate when you're ready to return,"

"Easier to locate?" I asked, "You're not bridging us straight to the Big V?"

"Vector Sigma's true location is shrouded in myth and rumor, Jack," Ratchet said, "It is said the Path of the Primes leads there. We must be confident that _Optimus_ will guide you,"

I looked at the Key again as it glittered in the deep light before carefully putting it away. Optimus would guide us huh? Well if that failed I had thirteen other Primes in my head willing to do the same.

"Don't worry," Arcee said, "Space bridging is just like ground bridging…"

And Ratchet activated it, the roar of the energies swirling through the rings drowned out most of the outside sound. It sounded very similar to a hurricane and was probably just as deafening.

"Just a little more intense!" the femme shouted over the noise. I nodded in agreement with my partners words, my wings standing on end from the noise. I looked to Annabeth who slipped her helmet on and gave me a thumbs up.

Annabeth and I nodded as the three of us walked through the Spacebridge. The walk through the bridge was as intense as standing in front of us, but eventually we made it to Cybertron. And into a war-torn, ash grey landscape…

**A/N: CLIFFHANGER! Oh man I am evil with these things! Anyway, what did you guys think of the chapter? Did you like the idea of Jack being a flyer or not? Let me know in your reviews, or just tell me if you liked the chapter or not. Also don't forget to PM me with plot based ideas or questions. Oh one more thing, my sequel to Another Type of Alien, a New Threat is coming out tomorrow! How many people are excited huh? None, oh... Ok then, bye!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Returning Home

**Jack's POV:**

The three of us emerged from the space bridge onto a war torn ash-grey landscape. Onto Cybertron, my home…. and in a weird way, my father. Huh, I had a planet and a god as a father, weird.

I put my thoughts away as I took in the full view, and felt a heavy sadness start to weigh in on my spark. We'd emerged into a city of sorts, or at least what was left of it. Buildings lay in crumpled ruins, soot and smoke still rising from their blackened husks years after having been destroyed. The massive roads, one of which we were standing on, were collapsed in several areas.

The sky was a depressing grey, adding to the overall feel of the planet. It felt… dead. I could feel sadness radiating from the resident Primes in my head, and I spared a glance at Arcee. A sad look was on her faceplate, a look I understood.

Annabeth apparently, did not notice our sad feelings and gazed in wonder at the planet, "I-I can't believe it…" Annabeth whispered, "I'm actually on another planet! Guys…this is _incredible_!"

Neither of us answered as we looked at the destroyed landscape before us. Annabeth turned to us with worry, "Guys?" she asked.

I looked to see Arcee staring into the distance, "This isn't how I wanted you to see my home," she said, her voice cracking as she looked away, optics clenched shut.

I placed a servo on her pede, letting my mind connect with hers. She gave no physical reaction, her mind still lost in sadness. I let my own emotions run over hers, letting her know what I couldn't put into words. It wasn't much, but it seemed to do the trick, she perked up ever so slightly.

"I… I'm sorry, shouldn't have said that," Annabeth said, realizing her mistake.

"In the fog of war it's hard to see beyond the next leg of the mission, or the next punch in the fight," Arcee whispered, "We did everything to save Cybertron...but when the fog finally lifted...there wasn't much left to save." she croaked bitterly.

_"Arcee! Jack! Do you copy?"_ Ratchet's voice crackled over the comm.

"Roger, we're on Cybertron," I replied through my built in comm.

_"Just keep the sightseeing to a minimum, huh?"_Bulkhead teased.

_"Indeed,"_ Ratchet replied, _"We don't know if your journey ahead is 5 clicks…or 5000."_ He's sure optimistic.

"Understood," Arcee said, "We're out."

"Ok…" I said, looking at the key in my servo, not sure of what to do, "Ratchet said the card would guide us…but I don't see how or…what I'm supposed to..."

The Key started to vibrate wildly and pulsed with white light as I turned in a specific direction.

"There you go," Arcee said and transformed to motorcycle mode. I got on, Annabeth getting on behind me and wrapping her arms around my waist.

"Better not touch my wings again," I warned her.

The girl laughed, "Wouldn't dream of it Gear head," she replied, and I imagined she had a large grin on her face.

I rolled my optics as the three of us drove off down the broken highways of Cybertron at a break neck pace. We'd been driving for about 10 minutes, when the key flashed as I moved it in another direction.

"That way," I said, motioning with the key as it flashed.

"Toward Kaon?" Arcee asked as a massive city rose into view. Even from this distance, it was obvious that the city was massive in size. I could see its twisted buildings and structures with ease, and realized it was partly because my optics had zoomed in. I had built in binoculars!

"The Decepticon capital, swell," I said sarcastically as we pulled through the entrance.

Arcee suddenly hit the brakes and served to the side, indicating for Annabeth and I to get off. Once we were, my partner transformed back to robot mode. Really wish I had an alt, would save me a lot of trouble.

"We're on foot from here," Arcee said. She looked around warily as Annabeth and I started forwards.

"Con's?" I asked worriedly.

"_Vermin_," she hissed before looking back to me, "Which way now Key bearer?" she asked.

I lifted the key and waved it gently from side to side. I stopped as it started flashing and vibrating again, "This way!" I declared, walking ahead of the others.

"Careful Jack," Arcee warned me, "Cybertron might be dead to the eye… but I have a strange feeling… that something is alive," she said cryptically.

Annabeth shuddered and my wings pressed against my back. I really hoped that Arcee was wrong. After all, Cybertron had been dead for centuries, right? Wrong…

**3rd Person POV:**

Percy watched the bots wait for the three to get back, hiding behind the terminal. He'd snuck in because well truthfully… he was worried that Annabeth would get herself hurt somehow. That girl managed to get herself into trouble before, and he wanted to make sure he was there to protect her.

He probably wouldn't be able to do that much though, Riptide was only effective against monsters. Being made of Cybertanium meant that unless he stabbed a con in the ankle… it wouldn't do him much good. Their armor was too thick. Heck even Jacks barely formed armor was tough enough to absorb a blow from his sword with only a scratch, according to Ratchet.

Still, he felt like he'd be important in some way or place. He wasn't sure yet, but he knew his time would come to help when needed. Luckily the bots hadn't noticed him, and the others, minus Grover, didn't even know he'd followed.

All of a sudden an unfamiliar voice sounded over the terminal, _"Spacebridge control, do you read me? Spacebridge control, this is Breakdown. You're status report is overdue,"_

"Scrap," Bulkhead cursed.

He cleared his throat to speak, when Ratchet placed a servo on his chassis, "Bulkhead, no. He'll recognize your voice," Ratchet warned.

"I could make it lower?" he replied unconvincingly. Ratchet raised an optic ridge.

"Higher?" he cracked.

Ratchet looked away before speaking, "He would recognize mine as well," they both turned to Bumblebee, who raised his servo's in defense.

_"Come in Spacebridge control!" _Breakdown growled dangerously, _"Don't make me come down there and dent some engine blocks," _he threatened.

_"Somebody say something pronto!" _Fowler yelled over the comm.

Ratchet looked to the others and back to the terminal, "Rafael, patch in Agent Fowler," he ordered.

_"You have one nano-cycle to respond or I'll-_"

_"This is Spacebridge control… situation… normal," _Fowler said quickly over the comm.

_"Normal?" _Breakdown sounded unconvinced, _"You sure about that?"_

Percy held his breath, hoping that Fowler didn't botch this up, _"We were just… calibrating the subsystems, and we… ugh… had a surge. But it's fine now. How are you?" _everyone froze in silence at that last bit.

Percy slapped his forehead lightly at the Agents mistake, and imagined the look of horror back at base. Seemed he'd get his chance to try and help sooner than later. Seems the bots thought the same thing, exchanging worried looks.

_"Ugh…Um…never better," _Breakdown responded _"I know it's thankless down there, but keep up the good work,"_

_"Will do, control out," _the agent cut out and everyone let out a sigh of relief. They had just bought themselves a little more time.

Percy looked at the swirling Spacebridge, "Come on guys, hurry up," he whispered wistfully…

**Jack's POV:**

The three of us walked carefully into the city, the key flashing brightly as we did. It unnerved me to see that Kaon was so… undamaged from the war. It wasn't it perfect shape, but compared to the rest of the planet, it was in pristine condition. It was infuriating to know that the Autobots had suffered so much, and the cons barely had any scars to show for it.

"Calm yourself brother, your powers are still controlled by your emotions," Vector warned.

I took in a deep breath and calmed myself, right as the key flashed brightly, "We must be getting close," I said, right as we walked up to two massive doors, hundreds of feet high. With a statue of Megatron perched at the top, his servo stretching over the landscape.

"Well _someone's_ a bit full of himself," Annabeth muttered, and I couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"Come on, the Key says its inside," I motioned for them to follow me through. We stepped through the doors to see a large open arena.

The key began to shine brighter than ever before, and the entire area began to shake. Annabeth and I fell to our knees while Arcee kneeled slightly as the ground began to crack. An entire section of wall collapsed, and a massive tunnel entrance burst from the ground. Bits of debris fell off it as it came to a stop, and we were left in a deathly silence as dust drifted through the air.

The key flashed again, and I looked from it to the doors, which had begun to glow bright blue. With a slight hitch, they slowly slid apart, disappearing, revealing a long dark tunnel that went who knew how deep.

"Vector Sigma's down there?" I asked.

"Kaon didn't always belong to the Decepticons," Arcee explained, "Megatron _took_ it as a capital…apparently without ever realizing what lay underneath their feet!" she smirked.

A low crumbling could be heard from above, and the three of us looked up in time see a huge, shrieking, black shape falling towards us. I couldn't move, I was paralyzed with fear as it fell towards me. Luckily, Annabeth was not, and pushed me out of the way while Arcee stood protectively in front of us. She activated her blasters and fired at the… thing.

I had no idea what on earth it was. It was huge and hulking, big as Bulkhead, if he was a con… and mixed with a beetle. It was hunched over with a lipless maw filled with razor sharp serrated teeth and two mandibles attached to its jaw. It had long dangling arms with sharp claws at the end. Its eye was a single red visor that cut across its faceplate.

The creature let out a bone chilling screech and lumbered towards us, or more specifically Arcee. Arcee fired wildly as it charged her, but the shots seemed to have no effect, simply bouncing off its armor. It slammed its shoulder into her and sent her flying away and crashing into the ground.

"Arcee!" I cried and ran towards her Animam Ore unfolding in my servo. I wasn't sure what to do, but instinct took over.

The beetle-bot glared at me venomously as I did something I didn't know I could do. I leapt up, ran across its arm slashing my sword up it the whole time, leaving a thin gash on its arm. I flipped kicked the monster in the faceplate and landed a good distance away, legs splayed out.

I looked at my servo's as I stood up and Annabeth ran up behind me, "How did I…"

"You're welcome for the little bit of guidance brother," A small voice said in my head.

"Who?" I started.

"Micronus Prime, a mini-con and the _former _smallest of the thirteen. That role's yours now brother," he said, a hint of happiness at the last bit.

"Great," I muttered, "More voices,"

"It would do you well to be more grateful youngling, we could allow you to face these threats alone," a deep voice that sounded suspiciously like George Takei informed me.

_"And you are?" _I thought as I backed away from the hissing beetle-con.

"Alpha Trion, Archivist of Iacon and fellow Prime, at your service," the voice told me.

_"Ugh huh, okay any advice?" _I asked Alpha.

"Just this bit," he said, "Run,"

Good advice.

Annabeth and I turn to run as the creature charged after us, only for a shot to ping off its back, causing it to roar in anger. The femme flipped over the con and engaged it as Annabeth and I watched. I clenched my servo angrily at the fact that I couldn't help even though I desperately wanted to.

Instead though, I placed a servo to my comm. "We're being attacked…" he said, "By some kind of giant…bot-beetle!"

_"An Insecticon!"_ Ratchet cried, incredulously.

"A…_what?!_" I demanded angrily, _"WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE DECEPTICONS DOING ON CYBERTRON!? I THOUGHT YOU SAID THEY ALL LEFT!"_

Arcee dashed forwards in her vehicle form towards the insecticon. The con screeched and grabbed her, flinging her away towards us. My guardian transformed in midair and slid backwards towards us, firing at the con the whole way.

"JACK!" she yelled turning to us, "GO!"

"Seriously?!" I cried.

"DO IT!" she shrieked.

_"Listen to her, Jack,"_ June's voice said over the comm. _"You've made it this far…Optimus is counting on you._I'm_counting on you,"_

Annabeth tugged on my arm, "You heard helicopter mom Gearhead, time to move!"

I looked at the Key. It glowed softly.

_"Jack, I trust you,"_ Optimus' voice rumbled, _"Whatever you do, know that I am with you."_

I clenched my servos and optics before reopening them with renewed determination. I wouldn't fail, not my mom or my brother. I had to keep moving.

"Roger that, Mom," I replied.

We backed through the doors watching as they closed behind us. The last thing I saw, was Arcee sparing us a worried glance… and getting tackled by the insecticon with a loud clash of metal.

I turned away, knowing that if I looked back I wouldn't be able to keep moving, "She'll be fine," I muttered to myself, "She's a tough one,"

I looked into the very, very dark halls and gulped slightly. Were the walls starting to close in on me? I shook my head, not the time to start experiencing claustrophobia. I steeled myself and walked forward, Annabeth tailing behind me while my golden optics cast an eerie yellow glow on the ground.

"Good thing you have such white armor," Annabeth commented, "You're practically radiating light," she said.

I looked at my body and saw that she was right. Faint light was radiating off my body, further lighting up the large empty hall, "How…"

"Another gift from Primus," Alpha explained, "Like your creator, you too radiate light in the darkness… just in a more literal sense,"

"So essentially he's a giant light bulb," Micro quipped.

I rolled my optics at the Prime's joke, when I heard a skittering sound, "You hear that?" I asked as I unsheathed Anaman.

Annabeth nodded, "Wish I'd brought my knife," she muttered looking around. She grabbed hold of an old pipe and ripped it free, smacking it lightly into her open palm. She looked quite scary when she did that.

"Lead on," she ordered, motioning with the pipe in her hand.

I nodded and held the key in front of me, its light further illuminating the halls more than my own form did. As we walked, Annabeth decided to try and spark up a conversation, "So… after this, what exactly happens next?" she asked.

I glanced back at her as I walked, "What do you mean?" I responded.

"What are you going to do after Optimus gets his memories back now that you're like… that," she motioned to my Cybertronian form.

"Back to how things were before, still have school to go to, stick with the Autobots, the usual daily grind," I shrugged as we continued to walk.

"You?" I asked.

"Percy and I will return to Camp Half-Blood, ready the camp for Kronos's invasion," she said simply.

I gave her a troubled look, "Doesn't it bother you that your parents just… use you to wage war against a Titan like that?" I asked.

she shrugged, "It's always been like that Jack, for thousands of years. God use heroes to fight their battles,"

"But it's so… cowardly," I said.

"It's an ancient law, they can't get involved," she replied.

I gave her a look of disbelief, "But the Titans can? They're sending _teenagers_ to fight monsters, demons, and Titans Annabeth. Ancient law or not, that's some major scrap," I said.

"Autobots are making you travel to an ancient super computer to restore their leaders memories Gearhead," she retorted.

"Only because I chose to," I countered, "and they aren't just giving me a sword patting me on the head and going 'here's an impossible task, have fun while we stay up here in our cushy mountain side palace kids'"

She remained unconvinced, "Plus he IS my brother to an extent. I don't abandon family," I added.

"Well we're fighting to protect our families to Jack, if Kronos marches on New York, the we're all that'll stand between him and the end of western civilization as we know it," she replied.

I quirked my lips slightly but said nothing as we continued walking. Last thing I needed was to get into an argument with the blonde. Still, I was troubled by the willingness in which the god's were willing to send their own kids into battle. I was certainly glad that Primus wasn't _forcing _me to fight for him. I chose to do this.

My thoughts though, were interrupted when I walked past an arch and a pair of doors slid shut between Annabeth and I, separating us. I banged on the door hard, "Annabeth! Can you hear me!?" I yelled.

"She can't hear you youngling," the voice of Prima told me. Another switch. That's just prime.

"And why's that?" I demanded turning around.

"Because _brother_," Liege hissed into my skull, "This is a task you must complete alone. You were chosen by the Prime, therefore _you _must retrieve the matrix from Vector Sigma,"

"Fantastic," I muttered and started forward.

I didn't have far to go before I came to another set of large doors blocking my path. The key flashed brightly, and I lifted it up to the doors. The doors slowly eased open revealing a room that made my jaw drop as I walked in, pedes echoing against the metal floor.

The chamber I had walked into was massive, larger than anything I had ever seen before. Several other bridges lead into a central platform supported by four massive beams holding it up. Intricate glyphs coated them, still fresh and new due to the lack of exposure to the elements. I looked over the bridge to see that it was a _long _way down, fog covering the ground so I couldn't see the bottom.

I decided it would be best to stick to the middle of the bridge and continued to walk forward, putting a servo to my comm. "Hey everyone… I'm in," I reported. I heard a multitude of cheers from my friends and family, and smiled faintly.

I looked around trying to figure out what to do with the key, when it started to glow faintly. I looked down at an indent in the platform. Maybe it went in here? Shrugging, I set the small key down and backed away as it slowly transformed back to its original size, larger than me. Then, suddenly the platform suddenly blazed with bright blue light and the part I was standing on…jerked backwards!

"Whoa!" I yelled as the entire platform began lifting up and forwards. I slowly slid back until I stumbled off the platform all together and saw the blazing white light of Vector Sigma revealed. Three sets of pulsating, undulating rings rose up from the center of the platform, and the metal surrounding the Key glowed a fierce bluish white.

"This is…wow," he breathed, "Commencing download…I think,"

I stood there watching the key in awe for several minutes… Then in a patient wait… then in slightly irritated boredom… then I began pacing back in forth as I _continued _to wait for the download to finish.

"This…is taking a while," I growled.

_"Of course it is!"_Ratchet scoffed over the comm. _"We_are_talking about the collective wisdom of the Primes…"_

I heard a whirring sound and turned to see the source, my optics widening in fear. Not for myself, but for the key of Vector Sigma. Coating the wall, were thousands of scraplets, far more than the number that had attacked base way back in the day. They all turned their purple optics towards the key, and leapt off the wall, their small metal bodies flying through the air, maws wide open.

I wasn't worried they didn't eat…metal… I looked down at my Cybertronian body and back at the Scraplets, feeling my Energon run cold with pure fear. I braced my arms in front of me as the swarm approached, unable to do anything else. They all swarmed past me though and I looked up confused. Why were they…

I turned to look and see that they were more focused on chewing on the key than me! I lifted Anaman and swung at several of the pests, cutting them cleanly apart with ease. But it was only a few, and I could see that they were still busily gnawing on the key.

_"What is it, Jack?"_ Ratchet asked.

"Scraplets!" I yelled as I swung desperately at the scraplets.

_"What's a Scraplet?!"_June demanded.

_"Ohhhh,_WHY _did it have to be_Scraplets_?!"_Bulkhead moaned.

A low whirring sound emanated from the key as the scraplets chewed through the outer layer, " "Oh, nonononono! Don't quit now!" I yelled.

I realized that my swinging wouldn't stop them, the only thing that would get the scraplets off the key was if I… I gulped nervously and grabbed one of the scraplets. It was this or risk losing Optimus. He was more important to the bots than I was I decided, and let the scraplet latch onto my armor.

I screamed as the creatures sharp fangs bit into my armor and began gnawing on me, tearing up cables plating and anything else in my arm. Several more turned from the key to me and exposed their rows of teeth before flying at me. I ran away from the key trying to lure them away.

Unfortunately, the plan worked as dozens began to swarm me. I screamed in pain as they buried their teeth into me and started coating my body. For some reason they weren't eating through me as fast as the bots, but it still hurt. In fact it burned with a searing pain, and after several seconds, I fell to my knees and then on my chest, dragging myself away from the key, more of them following my form.

I heard a sickening crunch and looked to see my side had been pierced by one, causing my… my Energon to start leaking out, pooling under me. The pain only got worse when they bit onto my wings, and I screeched louder than I thought possible, tears pouring from my optics. I would beg for the pain of my first transformation to escape the pain I felt now, but I had to just last a little longer… a little…

I felt my consciousness go fuzzy as more Energon began leaking from me, creating a small pool under me. Right as I was about to fade out, I heard a high pitched whine and felt my spark raise, a small burst of energy giving me the strength to get up weakly, limping forward.

"Arcee!" I shouted weakly… only to watch in horror as the insecticon buzzed in, transforming to its horrifying robot mode.

"B-b-back off bug," I warned weakly. The con hissed and stepped forward… before stepping back screeching in fear as I got closer. I looked at the scraplets latched to my form and felt a smile creep across my faceplate.

"Hey guys!" I shouted, ripping one off my shoulder and showing it the con, "If you liked the appetizer, here's the_ main_ _course!_" I flung it at the insecticon and felt an immense sense of relief as all the scraplets let go of me and attacked the insecticon, ripping into its armor with ease.

I closed my optics as they ate to con alive and it stumbled and fell off the bridge in pieces. I heard a clang as it bounced off the wall before disappearing into the abyss. I let out a grateful sigh and fell onto my aft around the expanding pool of my Energon. I felt so very tired now, and the ground looked so… alluring. I just wanted to rest my head, close my optics and…

_"JACKSON!" _a voice screamed in my head. I wasn't sure who's but it was enough to wake me up as the key let out a low beep.

I struggled back up and limped to the key as it sank into the floor, dragging my leg behind me as I did. Ratchet was going to have a fit when I got back to base. I leaned down and reached into the hollow area and picked up the key. I felt a faint flow of energy from it, but my body remained as damaged as it was.

Gashes littered my metal form, and I could see frayed wires and tubes peaking through my armor, spurting small amounts of Energon from them. anywhere that my innards weren't exposed, the armor was scraped silver from my various injuries. My new shiny armor that had only started to develop was ruined. I didn't want to know the condition of my wings.

I heard another low rumble and turned to see Arcee and Annabeth drive in, the former transforming as the demigod got off. They rushed towards me as I limped to them, "Jack are you-" Arcee started.

I let out a heaving cough and felt Energon coat the inside of my mouth, but ignored it, "I'll be fine, I have the matrix," I told her.

She looked unconvinced but probably came to the same conclusion as me. Getting back to base was the fastest way to get me patched up, "Let's roll," she said and transformed…

**3rd Person POV:**

Percy watched in horror as the last of the Autobots Ratchet, was flung aside casually by Megatron. he'd just… torn through them with ease, as if they weren't even there! He'd never seen such ferocity from any monster he'd fought before… and now he was going to fight Megatron…

He smirked, he could hear Annabeth's rant about how stupid his idea was now as he stepped in front of the bridge, barring Megatron's passage, "Can't let you stop them bucket head," he called to the warlord.

Megatron stalked forward and stopped, staring down at the demigod, "Oh, and who might you be to stop me, human?" he demanded.

Percy smirked and felt a tightening in his gut, "Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon," a loud crack echoed through the chamber from behind the bridge. Megatron looked at the crack and saw water behind it being held back by an invisible force of some kind. Another crack spread out from it, and another, and another. Soon an entire network of cracks covered the wall surrounding the bridge.

With a loud roar, it all came tumbling down as thousands of gallons of water slammed into Megatron, knocking him flying back into the cave wall. Building the bridge next to an Energon supply had been smart. Next to an underground water deposit. Not so much.

The warlord roared and emerged from the rapidly pooling water as Percy stood there panting and silently cursing. Megatron stormed towards him and plucked him off the ground, holding him optic level, "Say your prayers then son of Poseidon, whoever that is. For you die now!" he flung him to the side and Percy slammed into the wall with a bone shattering crack, landing in the saltwater below.

He immediately felt his bones start to knit back together, but it was too late, he wouldn't be able to slow Megatron down any further, not unless a miracle happened. Megatron stood in front of the ground bridge, awaiting Arcee, Jack and Annabeth to come through.

"Come Arcee," he rasped, "So that I may end the lineage of the Primes, once and for all!"

A ground bridge opened behind him "I cannot allow that to happen Megatron!" Optimus said as he emerged.

"And why should you care Orion Pax?" Megatron asked mockingly, "You are no Prime!"

Orion looked to his servo and clenched it, "That may be true, or yet another deception, but this much I do know:" he started striding towards Megatron, "my sympathies lie with the Autobots, and you are _not_ one of us!" his servo's shifted into blades, and Megatron scowled.

Orion let out a battle cry and charged Megatron, bringing his blade down towards his helm. Megatron blocked the blow with his own blade, sparks exploding off his sword. He let out a single grunt before slamming his fist into Orion's chest, launching him up into the air. The Prime to be fell to the ground gasping for air.

Orion slowly started to get up as Megatron spoke "Your spark may be in the right place Orion," he slammed his arm onto Orion's back, knocking him back to the ground.

"But you have much to learn before you can ever again hope to stand your ground against me," his blade extended and he raised it to strike, "A moment sadly, that shall never come!"

**Jack's POV:**

"We're almost there!" Annabeth yelled, as the ground bridge slowly appeared in their view.

"Ratchet," Arcee said, "We have the Matrix, we're coming through."

Something was wrong, there was no response. It was more than simple radio lag, I could feel it in my spark as I started to slip out of consciousness again. Annabeth slapped me lightly, "Stay with me Jack, you didn't make it this far just to die on a motorcycle," she told me firmly.

"Yes ma'am," I mumbled weakly.

Arcee came to a stop at the edge of the bridge and the two of us got off, Annabeth supporting my weight the best she could, "Ratchet?" she asked, "Something's wrong,"

"He would have answered us," I confirmed weakly, "But…We can't _not_ go through…can we?"

"Megatron could be waiting for us," Arcee said, "That Insecticon could have alerted him…for all we know, he could be waiting on the other side to extinguish us all,"

"Maybe…" I said, "But…maybe he's lowered his guard a bit…"

"He wouldn't be expecting us…" Arcee said, eyes sparkling, "JACK, YOU'RE A _GENIUS_!"

The blue femme transformed and gunned her engine, screeching through the portal. Annabeth and I followed her. Once we made it through, we saw Orion Pax whose blue optics shifted between us. He looked curiously at Annabeth, who stopped supporting me and let me approach him. He looked at me concerned, which I guess made sense. A heavily injured Cybertronian child was approaching him, he had a right to be concerned.

I ignored the protests of my body and held the key up away from his chest plate.

He looked down "Are you…certain…I am worthy?" Orion asked.

"You have no idea," I said, closing one optic as I lifted the Key.

A thin beam of white light streaked from the Key and into Orion's chassis, which opened and revealed the Matrix of Leadership. I heard thundering footsteps and he turned to face Megatron, who engaged his blade to strike the two of them down…

The Key suddenly flew out of my hand…and into a large black servo.

"NOOOO!" Megatron shrieked, plunging his blade down…

A loud thunderous boom echoed through the cave. Megatron's blood red optic's widened in shock. Orion Pax held his blade perfectly between his two servo's. No, not Orion Pax… Optimus Prime.

"Megatron…" Optimus Prime growled. His battle mask sealed shut with a definitive clamp.

"BE GONE!" he slammed his fist up into Megatron's jaw knocking him backwards.

Optimus stood to his pedes and punched the warlord across the faceplate again, knocking him further back. He repeatedly launched a vicious barrage of blows at the con warlord knocking him back and giving him no time to recover. I looked and saw the other Autobots get unsteadily up to their pedes with each blow from Optimus to Megatron. Right as Optimus sent Megatron crashing into the wall they all managed to stand, their stances strong and confident once more.

They got onto the platform blasters armed, and to my surprise I saw Percy with them, the demigod running up to Annabeth, who promptly punched him in the shoulder before hugging him happily. Optimus shifted his servos to blasters and blades looking back at Ratchet and the others.

"Ratchet," Optimus said calmly, "How did we arrive here?"

"Long story old friend," Ratchet explained.

_"Base to Arcee, we're reading_five_Autobot life signals down there. Is Prime with you?"_ Fowler's voice called.

Arcee smiled at me "And Jack," she replied.

Megatron heaved himself back up onto the platform, water pouring off his silver chassis as he snarled angrily. The Autobots proceeded to fire upon him as a Ground bridge opened up beside us

"It's ours!" Arcee yelled.

"Autobots! Fall back!" Optimus ordered.

It felt so good to hear him say that again. To my surprise, Arcee scooped me up in her arms and leapt through the portal the others not far behind. Once we emerged though…

"JACK!" Mom yelled as we walked through, Arcee cradling me gently. I didn't care, I wouldn't be able to stand on my own anyway. Arcee moved quickly and gently setting me on a berth for Ratchet to work on me.

Mom ran up to my side, "What happened!?" she demanded.

I grinned weakly at her, "Oh you know… metal eating parasites… kinda decided I made a good meal," I let out a series of hacking coughs as the others came through. They looked to me unsure and I waved them away.

"I'll… be fine," I told them, and watched from the berth as everyone ran up to the bridge… just in time to see Optimus walk through.

Raf approached the Prime, "Optimus?" Raf asked, timidly.

The Prime smiled down at him, "Hello, Rafael," he said, gently.

"The big guy remembers us!" Miko whooped.

Optimus looked at his shoulder pad, confused, at the Decepticon insignia emblazoned there.

"Although, it seems that there is much I do not remember," he replied even softer.

"Optimus," Ratchet said, "It truly has been our darkest hour. But know this: from every indication…your spark never ceased being that…of an Autobot."

The Prime… my brother, smiled softly at the medics words before he noticed me for the first time since I gave him back his memories. I'd have said hi but well… I was busy hacking up my Energon into a closed servo. He walked over to me and I had a feeling that the following conversation would be interesting to say the least.

He knelt down next to me, a worried look on his faceplate, "Who are you little one, and why sacrifice so much for me?" he asked with honest curiosity.

The base was silent as I finished my series of heaving coughs, "Well for one, _you _are the one who gave me the key to Vector Sigma in the first place Optimus," I told him weakly, a faint smile on my faceplate.

His optics widened in shock, "Jackson?"

I nodded and grinned, "In the… in the metal I guess," I said looking at my form.

Optimus looked to the others, "How did this?"

"We'll explain everything later Optimus, right now I need to get to work fixing Jack before he bleeds out all over my med bay!" Ratchet said and began fussing over me.

"Gee thanks Ratchet… glad to know you… you care," I quipped. It could have been my imagination, but I thought I saw a hint of a smile on his faceplate. Didn't matter, I needed to rest, I was tired, so very…very tired…

* * *

I stood across from Percy, Annabeth, and Grover as they stood in front of the ground bridge to New York close to Camp half-blood. I was still in Cybertronian form with various welds covering my frame. Ratchet said he could fix them all, but I wanted to say good bye to these three first before they left.

"You sure you want to stay here?" Annabeth asked, "We could use your help at Camp Half-Blood," she said.

I shook my head, "I don't fit in your world Annabeth, this is where I belong," I motioned to the Autobots.

She nodded and Percy stepped forward, "If you change your mind, here," he handed me a card printed with the words _Half-Blood Hill_ on it. I looked up at him and he smiled, "You know where to find us.

Percy looked at the rest of the bots, "Well, it's been fun, but it's time for this demigod to head out!" he and the others waved good bye as they walked through the bridge, and then… they were gone…

**A/N: Sorry for this rather abrupt ending to the chapter, but I wasn't sure how else to end it. For those wondering, yes Jack will show up at Camp half-blood, and soon. But next chapter he learns a little more about his new form, the wonders of Energon, and several other key events. In the meantime though, what did you guys think? Good, bad, or meh? Let me know in the reviews below. Or PM me with questions or ideas. Bye!**


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